Human
by Cervus-Vampirius
Summary: Takes place between seasons 2 & 3, directly after "As I Lay Dying," Liz's POV, exploring how she came to terms with Mystic Fall's supernatural residents. One she called her daughter, one she called her friend. How will she reconcile what she thought she knew about vampires with what she knows now?
1. Chapter 1

"Those are bad for you, you know."

I nearly dropped the freshly lit cigarette, starting at the voice behind me. Hands shaking, I took a long drag before I turned around. Sure enough Damon stood there, half lit in the dim streetlights, looking no worse for the wear. "You're supposed to be dead." I said.

"Sorry to disappoint," The edge of his mouth twitched ever so slightly and he settled on the curb beside me, "But really Liz, smoking?"

I nearly laughed at the ridiculousness of it, "This town, my job? Do you really think I'll live long enough to get cancer Damon?"

_Won't you kill me first?_

He regarded me silently and I shivered in the sudden cold. I wished I could read his mind right then. At times it seemed he wore his heart on his sleeve, but I now wondered if any of those concerned, pained expressions had been genuine. He had fooled me for months, hiding his nature and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks as I thought of the times I had opened up to him.

I felt foolish, tired, and afraid, but I was too exhausted to fight or run. This town was changing, my daughter was a vampire, as was the man I thought I could trust with my life. I silently decided that if I died right here in the cold foggy night, at least I wouldn't have to feel this hollow, throbbing pain anymore. "Did you come here to finish the job?" I found myself asking, my voice wavering slightly.

"No." He responded immediately, with complete nonchalance. I might as well have been asking if he wanted a drag of my cigarette. He didn't seem offended by the question, seemed almost as if he had expected it.

I let his answer sink in, somewhat relieved but he could easily be lying. How would I know until the moment he ripped out my throat? I took a deep breath "Then what? Lock me up? Compel me again?"

"No." He sighed and produced a flask from seemingly out of nowhere. Downing some of the contents he let out a grunt. He seemed conflicted and… sad. "You would find out again eventually. Maybe next time you really would kill someone."

My heart flared with shame and guilt as I thought of Jeremy. The way his eyes glazed over as he fell to the floor… the blood… He could have died, a horrible mistake. I had been aiming for Damon, the very creature sitting next to me and I felt a spark of anger well up and die just as quickly. His voice wasn't accusing, simply stating facts.

"Are you okay?" He asked, suddenly sounding like the friend I knew again. "Will you be okay?" he amended.

I realized that there were tears streaming freely from my eyes and wiped them away hastily, the cigarette dropped from my fingers. He wordlessly handed over the flask which I accepted after a moment's hesitation. I drank deeply, letting the burn of expensive bourbon distance me from my thoughts and from the current situation. He looked at me expectantly and I realized I had not answered him. "I don't know."

He nodded and reached a hand out slowly as if trying not to startle me. My eyes widened but I held my ground, heart jumping in my chest as he delicately wiped a stray tear away. It was such a tender thing, such a human act, reserved for friends and lovers, not whatever we were, so unexpected that I simply sat there staring at him. "No, you'll be okay. I'm sure of it." He murmured softly.

It took a moment for me to collect myself. "Why are you here?" I asked, my voice sounded weak, defeated.

"To see how you were." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "This can't be easy for you."

I snorted at the understatement and it warped into a sob. Before I knew it I was crying. His arms wrapped tightly around me, which made me cry harder. I began to struggle, panic setting in, but he held me, his chin resting on my shoulder and my eyes pressed into his, soaking his black shirt with my tears. He made small noises of comfort and gently stroked my shoulders with the back of his hand.

He held me like that until I quieted. The feel of his lips pressing to my neck was disconcerting to say the least, though I managed to calm down. I murmured an apology as we separated, but his arms stayed at my shoulders, providing unexpected reassuring support. I wondered again if this was an act, but at that moment I needed it to be real, so I quashed that suspicious part of me. He was warm and he _felt _human. This was a human thing to do. I looked into his eyes, impossibly blue and let myself fall into them. "No matter what else, Caroline cares about you. _I _care about you."

That sincere wistful look, his gaze boring into mine, the vehemence of his words, he was Damon, my friend again. "I tried to kill you." I pointed out dumbly.

"Twice." He corrected with a shrug, like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it wasn't, vampires could possibly be used to this sort of thing, right? There was that twitch in the corner of his mouth again. At least one of us could see the humor in the situation.

I had been compelled the first time. I suddenly longed for those lost memories. In a day everything I was so certain of was turned upside down and inside out. Vampires were bloodthirsty killers without remorse. They didn't help people. I knew this as certainly as I knew the sun would rise at dawn. I had seen the havoc they wrought on their victims, lied to families through my teeth about why their child, mother, father, husband, or wife was not coming home. But here one sat across from me, looking into my eyes with such concern. My daughter had wept as she begged me to accept her as she was now. I said only what I was thinking "I don't understand… any of this."

He let out a long sigh and stood, wearing a wistful smile and gave me one last tender look. "I'm your friend Liz, the rest is just details."

For the first time that night I felt safe enough to tear my gaze away. When I looked back again he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes as the light of the not-yet-risen sun cast a glow through the sheer curtains, chasing away the night's horrors. I took a steadying breath and reminded myself that it had only been a dream, and yet it was questionable how much better reality was.

I had a love/hate relationship with that east-facing window and made a mental note to get heavier drapes so I could sleep in on the weekends. I swung my legs out of bed, my feet slapping against the cold wood floor like they did every morning, but something felt different today. The oranges and reds peaking from around the trees in the meadow behind my house seemed more vibrant. The cool air, letting my body know that fall was approaching was more invigorating. I felt awake and alive and in awe of simply being.

I had survived the night. I hadn't been eaten by my would-be friend, or killed by my vampire daughter in my sleep. I had been spared the title of murderer by some ancient magic that I hadn't even known existed.

Even as my joints, stiffening with age protested on my way to the bathroom to take a small pile of morning pills, I was still alive.

I remembered coming home last night, shutting the door quietly at way too late of an hour, not wanting to wake Caroline. Realizing again that vampires had such heightened senses, she could probably hear the whirr of my cruiser's engine or the sound of my footsteps. Did vampires sleep? Maybe she could even hear my heartbeat speeding up as I approached the house.

I had paused a moment, but heard no movement, so I cautiously walked up the steps to her room. Cracking the door ever so slightly, I had peered in and was surprised to see her laying there, her chest rising and falling in the breathing pattern of sleep, as if she were still human. Her expression was peaceful, her lips slightly parted. I sighed in relief before catching myself in the irrationality of it. How many times had I done this? Checked if she was home and asleep? Reassuring myself that in spite of the dangers of this town, she was alright?

But she wasn't alright. All the things I had wanted for her, after the shortcomings of my own life, were irreversibly gone.

I was jarred back into the present as I exited the bathroom and nearly jumped out of my skin to see Caroline standing there. I told myself I wasn't reacting in fear, but the sad look on her face told me how weak that lie was. She had never been the most observant girl, but I was always an open book to her. "Sorry." She murmured quietly. "I guess I don't make as much noise as I used to."

"You just surprised me." I assured her. Her tight smile told me she didn't buy that either.

"You got in late last night… I was starting to worry. You'd had it kind of rough. I thought you might want to talk."

But instead I had disappeared without telling her where I was going and she was probably up late worrying. Way to go, Liz. "I'm sorry, I just needed some time to clear my head." I answered honestly.

Caroline nodded. "Damon told me he ran into you and not to wait up. He helped put it into perspective a little for me. Sometimes I get so caught up in my own stuff… I forget how hard it must be for other people."

I could take her advice for myself. She had become a vampire and still managed to retain her humanity… and she had done it without my help, afraid of what would happen if I found out about her. "Let me make you breakfast, honey." I gave her an encouraging smile and she nodded.

Cooking is not my forte, but I put my best foot forward and produced a passable ham and cheese omelet. I tried not to stare at a vampire eating human food, but Caroline seemed to read my mind. "As long as we get blood, our bodies function pretty normally. The flavor isn't quite the same but..."

She trailed off and seemed concerned that she might be freaking me out. If I were honest, I'd say I was beyond that, but it had little to do with what she was saying specifically at that moment. My daughter is a vampire. My daughter is dead. My daughter is sitting beside me looking at me with wide hopeful eyes.

I merely smiled reassuringly, "It's alright… I always thought I knew so much about-err… well… I'd like to learn more."

She seemed relieved and I was too. As impossible as this situation was, in my mind, I was getting a second chance to do right by a daughter I was certain I'd lost for good.


	3. Chapter 3

Damon fell in line beside me as I exited the police station. I did not slow my gait and only just glanced at him before shifting my gaze straight ahead. The sun played against his raven hair, revealing its reddish highlights. I hesitated, and then asked one of a thousand questions burning in my mind.

"How do you walk in the sun?"

Damon looked at me, seemingly startled, but did not break his stride. When he didn't immediately respond, I thought perhaps I had committed some faux pas by asking. I opened my mouth to apologize but he cut me off. "Sorry, it's just the last time you asked me that question you had just put a bullet in my thigh."

My brow furrowed in confusion. "I shot you?"

"Yep." He confirmed. "Twice."

There he went again, acting like it wasn't a big deal, and I was left struggling to make the compelled memory resurface. It didn't. "When?" Caroline's half explanations, knowing I was missing memories… it ate away at me.

"You remember when you got so sick you missed three days of work?" Damon asked.

The memory came to me automatically. Me, workaholic sheriff had the stomach flu, food poisoning or something so bad that I had to miss work. I never missed work. Too many people depended on me, but I was laying exhausted in bed all day and could barely move. I was touched by the way that Caroline doted on me, even trying to make soup in spite of the fact that she got her cooking ability from me and not her gourmet of a father. I had felt like we had gotten closer. The memories were fuzzy but there.

And with a sinking feeling I realized that it all was a lie.

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach… until an image of Caroline's face suddenly crossed my mind, her eyes filled with tears. I stopped walking, shaking my head as the vision faded away like a dream.

"What happened?" I finally asked shakily.

Damon shrugged casually. "It was nothing special. Just some violence and interrogation on your part followed by three days in the dungeon enduring your daughter's cooking. Now that's torture."

And he was joking about it.

"I could help you remember if you wanted... compel you to remember. But you'd have to quit the vervain." He continued and smiled pleasantly, but his eyes held a challenge. _How much do you trust me?_ They seemed to taunt.

"Vervain that you supply to me." I pointed out before I could think better of it. "And that I haven't received in a while."

Damon's lip twitched slightly as he gave me a considering look. "Oh? I hadn't noticed. Were you running low?"

I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He had no appearances to maintain anymore. Why would he give me a weapon against him? Still, even if I was friends with two of the vampires in this town, and related to the third did not mean I liked feeling helpless.

I looked away, realized that he had avoided my initial question but did not ask again. If I could not trust him to restore my memories, why would he trust me with vervain and the secret of walking in daylight?


	4. Chapter 4

_So I hope that those of you that are reading are enjoying so far. I know Liz isn't the most popular character, but she has a lot going on and a story to tell in her own right. I'm still exploring her relationship with different characters, but I think this will eventually become an actual plotted story. _

* * *

Carol was not from a founding family like me, her family had moved to the area when we were children. Still, I had known Carol almost all my life. She hated Mystic Falls and took every opportunity to point out what a lame boring town we lived in.

I won't say that we were friends, not at first. I was too tomboyish and strange compared to the immaculately dressed socialite who was the queen of our high school. I kept a straight face, even as I heard the hurtful comments she made behind my back, setting the other girls on me. I cried when no one was looking, feeling ostracized, and secretly hoping something bad would happen to her.

As we grew up, the mutual dislike remained, it was just hidden behind a finely crafted veneer of politeness, smiles that didn't reach our eyes, whispers behind closed doors.

As an outsider, Carol didn't know the town's secret, the terrible secret I had been raised with. Always drink your vervain, be home before dark, and don't ever invite strangers into the house. Maybe if I had taught Caroline earlier… but what's done is done.

I left Mystic Falls to go to college in Richmond and study law. Little did I know that Carol was right behind me.

When I walked into my dorm room and saw her standing there looking just as shocked as I must have, I thought God was punishing me somehow. I wanted to turn around and go straight back to Mystic Falls.

I was always a tough girl, but no one could tear me apart like Carol. I put on my best stoic face and decided that I would just ignore her.

She didn't make it easy on me. Every time I walked into the room, I dreaded that she might be in there. I could barely sleep for the first week knowing she was on the bunk beneath mine, half-expecting her to shove a knife up through the slats. I wished she was a vampire so I could just stake her and be done with it.

It was only a matter of time before the pot boiled over.

It was a stupid argument about what time lights should be turned off. She had early morning classes, I had a test to study for. I finally stormed off, but she wasn't done with me and followed me outside into the night. It was a dumb thing to do in hindsight.

Mystic Falls is a strange town in that it seems to be a magnet for vampire activity. But Richmond wasn't small, and you could bet there were a few strays running about.

It attacked Carol as she shouted at me from across the pathway. She screamed. I screamed, it was my first time seeing a real live vampire. Before I knew what I was doing, I charged it. It was surprised. I was surprised at myself.

That moment of distraction was enough as I pushed vervain into its fanged mouth. It hissed, an awful unnatural sound while I grabbed Carol and dragged her into the safe threshold of where a human lays its bed.

The vampire watched us hatefully through the open door. I was afraid to get closer to close it and instead scrambled further back, dragging catatonic Carol along with me.

It stared at us for a long time, breathing heavily as it recovered from the effects of the vervain. I felt like the monster was searing our faces into its mind so it could hunt out down and get revenge one day. Eventually it was simply gone, having moved too fast for us to see.

I explained vampires to a terrified Carol, told her the secrets of Mystic Falls. She looked at me like I was crazy in spite of the evidence she had seen, but agreed to the precautions I had set. Drink your vervain, be home before dark, and never invite strangers into the house.

As she grew to accept the truth, she realized that I had saved her life. We were no longer hostile towards each other and began discovering that we had more in common than we thought.

That is how my worst enemy became my best friend.

But she didn't look very friendly at the moment. The vampire issue was a sore subject and now that I found myself hiding the fact that my very own daughter was a vampire as well as the head of our town council, I couldn't help but feel the guilt creep into me.

I stood across from the desk where she sat and she slammed a small pile of gruesome pictures before me. "Three new attacks in the last week! What are you doing to correct this?" She demanded. My hackles were raised as well.

"I know about the attacks, I was there when they took these pictures." I bit out before I could stop myself. I didn't need to be reminded of these gruesome scenes. "I am monitoring all the foreclosures and vacancies in the area. Vervain is being added to drinks in all the local restaurants and my deputies are making nightly sweeps and stationed in all the popular hangouts."

"See to it that they're killing vampires and not innocent bystanders." She hissed. My heart skipped a beat and though I knew she was talking about the terrible accident with her late husband, all I could see was the look in Jeremy's eyes as I shot him. The pain must have shown on my face because Carol's expression suddenly softened. "I know what happened wasn't your fault. Something went terribly wrong. I just feel like we keep losing people here. Richard would have known what to do…"

I didn't bother correcting her assumption. I knew I was endangering people by keeping my daughter's secret, but I couldn't risk her being taken away from me. "I'm trying, Carol. It's all I can do right now."

I swept the pictures off her desk. I had a vampire to talk to.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks to those who reviewed so far! Noel, I have some ideas for these, but am not sure if this story will stretch into the 3rd season time line or if it will diverge into a path all its own. I suppose the question I am trying to explore is how we got from the Liz we saw at the end of season two to the Liz that seemed more accepting in season 3. I suspect Caroline had a lot to do with it, but this story will focus on Liz's complicated relationship with Damon. Thanks again for reviewing!_

* * *

I shifted from foot to foot outside the Salvatore house, looking up at the imposing building like it was an execution chamber. I had always thought it was a nice house back before I knew its dirty secret. I raised my hand to knock, hesitated and lowered it again.

I had been standing outside the house for ten minutes working up the nerve to summon its resident. In my hands was an envelope with the images from the latest 'animal attacks' in Mystic Falls.

I closed my eyes, remembering when I was called to the first scene. It was in the forest, and it wasn't neat… it wasn't a body cleanly drained of blood, vacant eyes staring out at nothing, but an unrecognizable pile of flesh. A magnificent rust colored spatter told me she was still alive when it happened, as did the frozen look of shock and horror on her face. It happened quickly at least, the copious amount of blood did not slowly leak out, but was sprayed everywhere as her vessels ripped with her body. Her intestines were somewhat held together with connective tissue, but still covered the six feet between her top and bottom half. I could see the spine exposed where it had snapped.

The thing stank… not because it had been there long, the coroner said twelve hours at most. No, it was the stink of viscera, shit, undigested food, blood exposed, aerosolized particles that I was now breathing. Have you ever slaughtered a hog or field-dressed a deer? Kind of like that.

Casey, my newest deputy was busy losing his lunch on the other side of the police tape. There was a time that I'd have been right there with him, but I'd grown desensitized to the bodies, even though this one was the most offensive I'd seen. He'd quit the next morning. I couldn't say I blamed him, he seemed like a nice young man with a wife and family and my track record with deputies told me a fair number of them died or disappeared before a year on the job.

We'd ended up having to identify her by her dental records. Thankfully, I hadn't known her, but the look in the eyes of her mother when she came in to identify the body was almost as disturbing as the body itself. Her one consolation was that we believed that she had died quickly when her head was removed.

I began to wonder if the girl was indeed the victim of an animal attack, after all, I'd never seen a vampire go so above and beyond the call of duty to produce such a vile scene. I thanked God that it wasn't something that I had to deal with every day.

Then we found the second body the next day… and then a third the day after that. That was four days ago and we hadn't heard of any further attacks, but maybe we just hadn't found the bodies yet.

My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket and I nearly jumped.

_Quit messing around and come in -D._

My cheeks flushed slightly as I realized he'd known I'd been out there all this time. Vampire hearing I reminded myself, but how had he known it was me? I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

I had been to the Salvatore house many times to meet Damon the vampire hunter. He had been a good friend, a valued ally, and I always saw the good in his intentions. The only reason I ever felt nervous around him was the way he made me feel when his eyes seemed to see right through me. An irrational part of me mourned him as if he'd died.

Damon the vampire on the other hand was a mystery, I didn't understand him, his intentions, how he seemed to defy what a vampire should be, and why he insisted we were friends when the very sight of him made me want to turn and run for the hills. I knew he could kill me before I could blink and yet here I stood at his door holding evidence to a crime that very well could have been his handiwork.

I reached out and sure enough the door was unlocked. I pushed it and it slowly opened, creaking and I suddenly felt like the dumb blonde who dies at the beginning of a horror movie. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside. There was no one there to greet me as I looked around the foyer. I stopped just inside the house, the door still wide open behind me, not wanting to block off my one escape route.

"In the living room." His voice called. "Close the Door, Liz, you're letting bugs in."

I felt a wave of irritation at his tone and expressed it by shutting the door a little harder than it needed to be. I then put on my best face of confidence and walked into the grand room.

He sat splayed out on the couch, a glass of whiskey in one hand. Though he wasn't looking at me he spoke as soon as I entered. "Liz, to what do I owe the pleasure?" It didn't sound like it was a pleasure to him, his voice was dull and clearly agitated and I wondered what was bothering him. He took a sip of his drink and set it down on the coffee table his legs were propped up on before finally shifting to face me.

My lips were tight and much as Carol had tossed the pictures at me accusingly, I dropped them at his feet.

He looked at me questioningly for a moment and then swung his legs down to the floor and scooped up the grizzly images I had laid before him. His eyes swept over them briefly, an unreadable expression passing over his face before going back to cool indifference. "What is this?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." I said, leveling my best glare his way.

He glared right back. "I didn't do this." He said simply, and slid the pictures back flippantly.

"I didn't say that you did." I replied, trying to read his impassive expression.

"You didn't have to." He said dismissively, settling back into the sofa and looking away. "It's taken care of. Don't worry about it."

"So you do know something about this." I said, latching onto his words. "Damon… please. These people deserve justice. They didn't deserve to die like this."

"Appealing to my moral sensibilities won't get you very far. They're already dead, Liz. Anything you do now won't bring them back. Let it go." He said firmly.

I seethed at the cold logic of his words. "And what about their families? Don't they deserve some closure?"

I'd never seen Damon lose his cool, but he had suddenly flown from the couch and was right in front of me, his nose nearly touching mine. I stumbled back but he caught me, the feeling of his hands on my arms searing into me.

He released them as soon as I was steady on my feet, as if they had burned his hands as well.

"I don't have time for this right now, Liz. If you pursue this then more people are going to die." He bit out in a low angry voice.

"Are you threatening me?" I asked, disbelieving this turn of behavior when he had been touting our friendship just days before.

"It's not me you should be worried about." He replied cryptically. He looked me over. I was stiff, crouched slightly in an instinct to protect my midsection, and trying not to shake. He'd managed to rattle me pretty badly. He took a step back and turned around. I saw his shoulders heave in a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry Liz. I can't help you. Please do me and everyone else in this town a favor and forget it happened."

"You're really not going to tell me anything." I said, still angry. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed it.

He looked over his shoulder at me and spoke in a cold voice, "No. Now please see yourself out."

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_Please review :)_


	6. Chapter 6

I may have missed quite a few things, such as the vampire who had spent the last six months masquerading as a vampire hunter, the fact that my daughter was also a vampire, and that there was more supernatural goings on in Mystic Falls than I could have imagined.

Okay, so I missed a lot, but what I didn't miss was the way Damon had looked when his eyes first saw the pictures. Being sheriff, I had some experience reading faces. I'd been pouring over his expression all day- the slight widening of his eyes, lips parting as if to take in a quick breath, how he swept it all away, carefully cultivating a look of indifference. I kept coming to the same strange conclusion.

Damon was afraid.

Which was completely and utterly ridiculous, what did a vampire have to worry about? He's all powerful in a sea of weak humans. He's holding hostage all the vervain, the only weapon we have against him. For some reason normal vampire rules don't apply to him and he walks happily under the sun. What could he possibly be afraid of?

Unless there was a bigger fish out there?

I felt a cold chill run down my spine as I considered the very likely possibility of the situation. Something so powerful that Damon does not want to risk antagonizing it for the sake of all involved?

I found myself left with more questions than answers, but damn it, it was my job to protect this town and I'd done a pretty shoddy job so far. I will admit that, but I'm not going to sit on my hands while something this big is going on behind my back.

I had no idea where to start, but since Damon wasn't forthcoming with answers I decided to look into his life first.

"What year?" The young librarian asked, turning to the stacks.

"I'm not sure… I'm looking for anything on the Salvatore family."

"You should really just ask Damon."

I looked up sharply, slightly alarmed, but she merely took it as a look of curiosity. "Yeah, he came in a lot when he first moved here. Said he was curious about his name sake. Knew a lot of interesting facts about the town during the Civil War. Real history buff, that guy."

His name sake? "Who was his name sake?"

"Some who died fighting for the Confederacy. It's all in this book." She said pulling an old dusty tome from the shelf that creaked in protest as it was removed. She made a second selection "This is the Census from 1860 as well."

"Thanks." I said, accepting the books.

"Hold on…" she put a pair of disposable vinyl gloves on top. "So the oil on your hands doesn't damage the pages."

I nodded and continued to a table slightly obscured by the tall shelves.

I paged through the census history and took note of two names, right beside each other.

Damon Salvatore, 18  
Stefan Salvatore, 13

I had suspected that Stefan was a vampire after finding out about Damon, but hadn't really asked. I had more pressing things to worry about at the time. But now it was pretty much confirmed for me. It gave me a starting point, anyway, but both brothers looked older than the ages penned beside their names. They must have died a few years later.

I opened the Salvatore family history and looked at the family tree.

_Giuseppe Salvatore and Evelyn Matthews, wed 1840. Two children, Damon (b. 1842), and Stefan (b. 1846). Evelyn Matthews died during childbirth of the second son. The rest of the family was tragically killed during the Battle of Willow Creek in 1864 with the exception of Zachariah Salvatore, illegitimate son of Giuseppe and Patricia Harmon, a servant in the household._

1864.… born 1842... making Damon almost 170. Sweet Jesus.

I sat back and processed that for a while. Most of the vampires I'd dealt with were people known to me, recently turned people. Did vampires get more powerful with age?

I didn't know and shook my head, turning the page. The pale eyes staring up at me from a daguerreotype sent a shock to my system, sending any lingering doubts that maybe it was a coincidence from my head.

_Damon Salvatore fought for the Confederate States of America 1860-1864, falling in the Battle of Willow Creek._

He looked the same, his eyes, his hair, it was all untouched. I had known vampires didn't die easily but I hadn't known if they were truly immortal. This seemed to indicate so. I turned the page again and my heart skipped a beat.

_1864, Left to Right: Giuseppe, Stefan, and Damon Salvatore with guest Katherine Pierce._

That was definitely Damon and Stefan, but what really freaked me out was the girl all the way on the right. She was dressed in an elegant gown but there was no doubt in my mind that the faces were the same. It was the spitting image of Elena Gilbert.

My mind whirred. Elena was a vampire? But that couldn't be. I'd known Elena since she was a child, she and Caroline had grown up together. I'd seen her age. Was this possibly an ancestor of hers that just happened to look alike?

I carefully closed the books and returned them to the librarian. Every time I found an answer, it just led to more questions.


	7. Chapter 7

Another Caroline chapter :) and Dorothy, I don't know why I posted the story as complete, must not have been looking! I have several more chapters planned out, will fix it now. Enjoy!

* * *

I was tired when I got home, pulling into the driveway in my cruiser and taking note that Caroline's car was also out front. I didn't know how to approach the subject of my recent discovery with her, so I decided I would attempt to make dinner first before getting to the tough questions.

"Hi mom!" she smiled brightly, greeting me as I entered. The smile I returned to her came to my face easily. I found it easier every day to believe that she was still my daughter. After all, how could a soulless bloodsucker fake the way she fussed over her hair or woke up two hours early to pick out a perfect outfit for the day?

"Hi Care… How was school?"

She launched into an epic story of the drama going on at school. It was so mundane, but apparently who was cheating on who and who had dared to wear last year's fashion was important to her and it felt so much like the things she would go on and on about to me before the divorce, it warmed my heart.

I wondered what her father would do if he knew about her now.

As I settled in to attempt to make something edible for the two of us, she sat up at one of the bar stools that circled the kitchen island. She chatted easily with me as I trimmed the gristle off a couple of steaks- Caroline had always refused to eat the fat since she was watching her figure. I couldn't hide the soft smile that touched my lips as she started talking about Matt and how she was happy that he was beginning to accept her. He had said even before everything came out in the open that she hadn't changed, vampire or not, she was the same old Care. I took the cutting board and popped open the trashcan lid and froze.

"Mom?" I heard her question in the background as I fell silent, setting the cutting board down shakily on the neighboring counter as I reached into the bin to pull out a spent blood bag from Mystic Memorial Hospital. It had a bit of ruddy red residue, proudly proclaimed O negative, and looked so out of place sitting in the garbage in my kitchen with a straw sticking out of it like a Capri Sun.

Caroline was a vampire. I knew this, but the idea of her drinking blood forced to the forefront of my mind so suddenly sent a wave of pain and disgust through me.

I slowly turned to her, still holding it. There was a look of hurt in her eyes and I suddenly hated myself for the reaction I was having. "I have to eat, mom…" She said softly, then hopped off the stool and hurried out of the room.

"Caroline!" I called after her, but she had already made it up the stairs and I heard her door slam.

I dropped the offending item back into the garbage and slowly went to the sink to wash my hands. Setting my slippery fingers on the cool metal border of the sink, I leaned in and took a deep breath.

Letting it out, I brushed the water off on my khakis and followed her up the stairs. I turned the doorknob and my heart cracked a little as I saw her curled on the bed. "I'm sorry." I said, not really feeling like I was there in the moment.

She still didn't look at me so I stepped in and sat on the edge of her bed.

"I know you have to eat… and I'm glad that you're drinking from these and not hurting people. It's just… whenever I remember what you are… I remember how much I've failed you."

She was looking at me now. "This is what I am now, mom. I don't regret it, I can't."

"But… I wanted you to grow up… have a family."

"I don't have to worry about wrinkles now. Can you imagine how much I would have spent on beauty products and laser treatments by the time I was forty?"

I managed to smile at her joke.

"I already mourned my humanity, mom. It's gone and I can keep going and be happy. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm strong now, I can handle myself out there."

"You were always strong." I whispered. Caroline sat up and pulled me into a hug.

"I shouldn't have stormed off… I just… after everything that's happened, I keep forgetting that this is still new to you." She said into my shoulder.

"I'm trying, Care…" I gave her a last squeeze. "So… you steal this?" I cocked a disapproving eyebrow to lighten the mood.

"You can arrest Damon for that. He supplies both of us." So Damon drank from blood bags as well? I filed that away with a sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all?

"What about Stefan?" I tested.

A dark shadow passed over Caroline's face before she answered me. "Stefan usually drinks animal blood. Bunnies, deer, whatever. Kinda gross." She wrinkled her nose. "He tried to get me on the animal diet, but bunnies are way too cute."

That would explain all the animal carcasses my deputies kept finding in our regular combs of the woods. I didn't miss her wording or the look on her face, but decided not to push it. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked alarmed for a moment but then nodded. "You can ask me anything. I figure if you understand more about us, it'll be easier to accept."

"Actually… it's about Elena. She's not a vampire right?"

Caroline snorted as she choked back a laugh at that. "Not at all mom. She would probably make the worst vampire ever."

I let out a breath and explained. "I found a picture of someone when I was researching Stefan and Damon. Someone who looks exactly like her."

Caroline was suddenly serious again. "Katherine." She spat out angrily.

"Katherine?" Should I be worried that Caroline seems to know all about this?

"She's a vampire. She's the one that turned Stefan and Damon, pitted them against each other," Caroline said. "Then she faked her own death and left them to fend for themselves. She may look like Elena, but they have nothing in common. She's nothing but a selfish bitch."

I might have given Caroline a look for her colorful choice of words, but I had other things to process. "Is she still around?" I asked in alarm at the prospect of a vampire older than Damon running around. Is this the vampire he was afraid of?

"Not likely, she left town about a week ago. The same time you found out about me. She better not come back."

"You really don't like her." I observed.

"No. She's… she's the one that killed me." Caroline growled.

And suddenly I hated her more than Caroline did.

* * *

Next one is already written, just needs some touching up. Please Review!


	8. Chapter 8

Enjoy!

* * *

I did not drink with the residents of Mystic Falls. As an elected official I found that it was important to cultivate the impression that I was at least somewhat responsible and always ready when a situation occurred. We were a small town and while I was unlikely to be featured in any tabloids, local word spread like wildfire and was just as damning. When Caroline's father had left me years earlier, publicly coming out as gay, it had nearly ruined me with the small town and their conservative values. Only Mayor Lockwood's endorsement at Carol's behest had saved me.

So I fought to keep up this public image. This didn't mean that I didn't drink, I did, and seemingly more often after finding out that my daughter was a vampire. I just did it in the neighboring town of Scottsville where no one knew who I was beyond the woman that showed up to drink alone on a Friday night.

It was the only bar in town so in spite of the small population, it was where everyone drank. My ears were assaulted by the ambiance of voices and Mick Jagger's singing on the jukebox as I walked in. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim light inside, but I proceeded to find a free spot at the bar.

The bartender recognized me and gave me a wide smile- I was a good tipper. "What can I get you?"

"Bourbon."

He left the bottle like he knew I liked and moved on to another customer. I poured two shots and quickly downed them. As I poured a third, my plan to get obliterated was interrupted by the sight I saw on the opposite side of the bar.

I nearly spit out my drink. _Was that Damon Salvatore?_

And even more concerning- who was that he was talking to?

I ducked my head but realized that he hadn't noticed me. I wasn't in my normal Sheriff's uniform after all, and had gone out of my way to blend in lest I be recognized, wearing jeans and a simple blue long-sleeved shirt. The girl that seemed so absorbed in conversation with Damon was young, just a few years older than Caroline. She was pretty with shiny blond hair and smiling blue eyes. Though she was dressed provocatively, she exuded an air of innocence. She was currently laughing pleasantly at whatever Damon was saying to her.

When he didn't take his eyes off her I decided to try to get closer.

Straining my hearing, I watched out of the corner of my eye, keeping my back to the pair. "…I wish more guys were like you." The girl said. "You're so funny!"

"Thanks, I try." I could picture his smug grin. I had heard rumors about Damon being a womanizer, but he had always been so professional around me, I had dismissed them. I should have figured out by now that if he could convincingly play a vampire hunter, he could really be anyone.

"I can't believe some big city guy like you is even bothering to talk to a down home hick like me." She laughed. "I've never even been outside of Virginia and here you've been all over the world."

"The beauties in Italy don't hold a candle to you. So honest, so charming. That's why I like you." I cringed internally at the bad line, but apparently it was exactly what this girl wanted to hear.

"You… think I'm a beauty, huh?" She asked shyly.

"Inside and out, Samantha." Damon replied.

She giggled girlishly.

"Why don't we find some place quieter to talk?" He suggested casually. Alarm bells rang in my head. What was he planning on doing with her? Was he really just a womanizer as had been suggested, or did he have something else more sinister planned?

Apparently they did for Samantha too. "I… we've only just met. Can't we just stay here a while longer?" She asked nervously.

"_Are you sure? It would be much better to talk someplace quieter, don't you think?" _I tried not to react, but the words made me sit ramrod straight. Jesus Christ, he was compelling her right behind me.

"You know, it's kind of loud in here, want to go someplace quieter?" She asked seductively, oblivious to the compulsion. My breathing hitched. Is that what he had done to me? Did I respond so mindlessly?

"I would love to." He responded sweetly and I heard the girl's heels click as she walked off with him.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. _Do I follow them? Do I confront him? Caroline had told me they all fed from blood bags. Did she know about this? Was she lying?

As the bell at the entrance signaled someone had opened the door, I turned and made my decision. The weight of my gun was comforting at my side, and I slid it out subtly, cocking it at the ready. I let out a shuddering breath and stepped outside.

I looked to the left just in time to see the pair disappear into the alley. I walked as softly as I could after them. I didn't know what I would do, what I could do. Caroline had said they fed from blood bags…

"Why the alley?" Samantha asked nervously.

"_Don't run. Don't scream." _He responded.

When I rounded the corner I saw the horrifying sight. Damon had the girl shoved against the wall of the alley, one arm against the bricks, the other hand tangled in her blonde curls, wrenching her head to the side at a painful looking angle. He was gums deep her neck, his eyes closed in obvious pleasure.

I froze. It was one thing to know Damon was a vampire, and another to see him feeding on someone with red, veined eyes and prominent fangs in the streetlight.

I was just about to bring the gun to bear against the feasting vampire when I heard Damon moan softly and realized he was grinding against the girl's hip. I flushed at the erotic display and hesitated. I hadn't realized that vampires got turned on when they eat.

"Please. Don't kill me." Samantha cried softly in fear.

Damon broke from the supple white column. He said nothing to comfort the girl but looked directly into her eyes. "_Forget this happened, forget you met me, put something on your neck to hide the scar. You were attacked by an angry puppy."_

"An angry puppy…" She replied, dazed.

"_That's right… and take some iron supplements tomorrow. Now go back into the bar and get some cranberry juice." _He took a step back. Her hand held to her neck to obscure the wound, she obediently walked back towards the entrance to the bar.

Unfortunately that was also towards me.

Damon was sucking spilled blood off of his fingers when he noticed me. He froze with his right index finger two knuckles deep in his mouth, his eyes widening like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. He took in the look of horror on my face and the gun in my hand and came to the same conclusion I had. His finger came out of his mouth with an audible pop.

"Fuck."

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Sorry about the cliffhanger guys, How is Liz going to deal with this? Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for all the reviews guys! Here's the next chapter:

* * *

I took a deep breath before leveling the gun at his chest. He could probably do that super speed thing and kill me before I even rattled off a shot, but he just watched me. "I have a question. I want you to answer me honestly, okay Damon?" I concentrated on keeping my voice from shaking, but I could not hide the rage in it. After what I'd just witnessed, how could I ignore the suspicions that had been growing in my mind since the day I realized what he was?

He stood a little straighter, "Put down the gun, Liz."

"Not happening."

He stilled and I wondered if that was when the attack would come, but instead he let out a huff of air. "Fine." He said curtly and stepped over to the edge of the building, folding his arms and leaning against it in a lazy display that told me just how seriously he was taking the gun pointed at him. My gun followed him the whole time but he suddenly seemed unconcerned, focusing only on my eyes. "Ask away."

I took let out a long breath, focusing on not letting the gun shake. "Caroline said you fed from stolen blood bags."

He nodded confirmation, but I saw a shadow fall across his face.

"But apparently you don't only feed from them?" I cocked my head towards the bar where the retreating figure of the girl was last seen. "And do you always let them walk away?"

His gaze held me. After a moment's pause he didn't even have to answer.

"You… kill people?" I felt so incredibly naïve as I asked.

He seemed to think so too and he sneered at me. "I'm a vampire, Liz. Yes, I kill people."

My hand shook despite my efforts. I didn't want to ask the next question. "And Caroline?"

Some of the rage in his face seemed to drain away. His voice softened. "No, she doesn't."

I breathed out in relief, but did not tear my gaze nor my questions from the monster before me. "How many?" I managed to ask.

His eyes narrowed. "I don't exactly keep track."

My blood ran cold. "Then since you came here… how many since then?"

"Liz…"

"Answer me." I ground out, anger flaring at his plaintive tone. "Who?"

"Zach." A pit dropped in my stomach, I had wondered where he'd gone without leaving word and had begun to suspect, but suspicion and confirmation are two different things.

"Who else?" I forced myself to ask, even as I dealt with the realization of Zach's death.

"Vicki Donovan, Logan Fell, Mason Lockwood, a couple camping in the forest, a girl driving her car at the wrong time, and more…" His voice was growing nastier by the minute. Every word brought a face to mind and a blow to my heart, "So what, sheriff? Is this what you wanted to hear?" He hissed.

Tears were in my eyes. My hand squeezed the trigger and a bullet flew at him. Like before, he moved before it could penetrate.

He was on me in the next moment, flitting like pages of a flip book, jumping forward faster than the mind could comprehend. My gun had flown from my hand and he wrenched my arm painfully behind me, effectively restraining me. I tried to fight against him, but… well, have you ever tried to punch a brick wall or uproot a tree? "Really Liz? Are we really doing this again? You need to calm down." He said, trying to sound reasonable, but my blood boiled at the suggestion.

"I will not. You are a _murderer_ Damon, and I could _never _be friends with you." I said, trying to spit in his face. I thought he would kill me then.

I saw anger in his face- and hurt, redness in his eyes as his face changed. I had never seen him like this, never seen a vampire show its true face so close to mine. My heart hammered as he went for my throat.

His head was buried against my neck and for a surreal moment he just held me there, breath ragged to my ears, warm on my neck. I closed my eyes. I would not beg for my life.

A frustrated cry of rage filled the alley. The next thing I knew I was on the ground and he was gone.

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Well, Liz didn't handle that well at all... Reviews make me happy!


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next bit, enjoy! Thank you so much to all the people who have reviewed!

* * *

I didn't need Damon.

I told myself that over and over, but even if I didn't need him, I was still baffled. I could not reconcile our interactions, the caring look in his eyes with the monster I knew him to be.

He hadn't killed me, for whatever that was worth, but the thought of him turned my stomach. I never liked Kelly Donovan. She spent half her time drunk, drinking and brawling with the best of them and sleeping with anyone she could seduce into her bed, car, or public bathroom. I had put her children in foster care eight years ago because of her neglect, but she had worked hard to get them back, acting like a decent mother- if only for a few months. It frustrated me, but I did not pursue it again.

No, I didn't like Kelly. But I remembered the look on her face when I told her that we had found Vicki's body. A light flickered in her eyes, went out. She had fallen to the floor weeping as I stood over her at a loss for what to say, knowing that I had failed her.

Vicki didn't have to die, it was on the whim of a vampire. A vampire I called friend and I didn't know how to deal with it. I hated Damon, but not so much as I hated myself for the small part of me that still cared about him.

I had not seen him in over a week, quite a feat in such a small town until Caroline had informed me that he had left after our… disagreement. She had been quiet about the whole thing, but I could tell that his absence bothered her.

I didn't need Damon, I told myself again. He had brought nothing but pain and death to this town and now that he was gone, I could move on and get back to protecting this town as I should have been all along.

In spite of Damon's assurance as to Caroline's feeding habits, I couldn't get his words out of my mind '_I'm a vampire, Liz,' _as though it explained everything. Just a few weeks ago, I would had believed that it did explain everything before seeing the way my daughter walked on eggshells around me, yearning for my approval and acceptance. I shuddered at the thought of what I'd have to do if she crossed the line as he had.

And I had just begun to accept Damon as well, if only I hadn't seen what I saw.

Directly after his abrupt departure, I had gone back into the bar to find Samantha, the girl that he had fed on. She was happily sipping on a cranberry juice with a bandage about her neck. She had seen me looking and warned me to watch out as there was a vicious dog that had attacked her roaming around town somewhere.

I had seen the look of a survivor before, whether it was assault, rape, armed robbery, or vampire attack. They were haunted, angry, afraid, reliving the encounter over and over again. She didn't seem upset or traumatized in the slightest and I realized that whether he meant it or not, he had not only protected himself but protected this girl as well.

But he was gone and vampires were the enemy again… it was simpler this way.

But I still thought about the time before I knew what he was, when he'd appeared out of nowhere like a savior suddenly equipped to deal with the vampire crisis. He had shown be the bodies of at least three vampire's he'd killed. We were lucky if we survived putting down one.

* * *

_"Where did you learn to do that?" _I demanded as we hauled the graying body into the trunk of my car.

_"I guess you could say I've been training for it my whole life." _He said as he hoisted the body with ease. I remember being surprised at his strength… impressive, but not quite supernatural.

_"I wasn't sure about you at first." _I confessed. I hadn't been. A random guy shows up with a giant box of vervain and I'd never heard of him before? _"I mean… Zach never talked about you."_

_"I'm kind of the black sheep of the family." _He smiled, not looking offended in the least.

_"Well, you did this town a service today. Even if the rest of the town can't know, I won't forget it."_

_"Thank you, Sheriff."_

_"Please, you can call me Liz."_

* * *

I had been impressed with him, but I hadn't considered him a friend yet. I think that shift occurred when Caroline had her accident.

I didn't know the exact time when Caroline had become a vampire, but she was definitely still human when she arrived by ambulance to Mystic Memorial Hospital. Damon had met me there in my time of need.

* * *

_"She'll be okay." _Damon had told me in the hospital waiting room. My hand felt numb in his as he gave it a reassuring squeeze.

_"You can't know that." _I said, staring off into space. My heart had never hurt like this, the prospect of losing Caroline to a car accident after everything that had happened in this town was surreal and cruel.

_"Liz, look at me." _He implored and I managed to tear my eyes off the wall to look into his. They were blue, deep, and soulful. Concern was etched on his face. "_She will pull through. Trust me, I have it on good authority. She'll be fine."_

My brow wrinkled in confusion. _"I don't understand. The doctors said it didn't look good- to prepare for the worst. Did they say something to you?"_

He shook his head, opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, thought better of it, and smiled ever so slightly. _"Have a little faith."_

Faith. God had been a big part of my life growing up, but as bodies piled up, as my husband left me, and as my daughter started to hate me, I had distanced myself from the church and from Him. _"Damon… will you pray with me?" _I asked hesitantly.

He looked startled, but nodded and held both my hands in his, bowing his head and closing his eyes. I closed mine and began to pray silently.

* * *

He had been there exactly when I needed him the most. With Carol dealing with her own personal tragedy, he was the only one who came for me. I wasn't a social person. Most people saw me as an authority figure, and my deputies saw me as their boss. I had been startled to realize that this young man, this young vampire hunter was perhaps the closest thing I had to a friend.

* * *

_"Drinking all by yourself? Only alcoholics drink alone." _I had admonished him.

He'd looked up at me with a lazy smile and raised his glass as if to toast me, swaying slightly, "_Why don't you join me then?"_

I snorted, "_God knows I could use a drink, but I'm in uniform right now."_

He'd pouted then nodded, "_This town's lucky to have someone like you, watching over them."_

I wonder if he'd been mocking me then. _"I could say the same about you. You show up and have put yourself on the line day after day. I don't know if we could have accomplished so much without you." _

_"This is my home too, Liz. Got to keep it safe." _He'd said the line with drunken earnestness… I couldn't doubt him. Not at the moment anyway. _"So why are you working so late anyway in this quiet little town?"_

_"Quiet... right. Well there's been no new attacks recently if that's what you're wondering. I suppose I have you to thank for that." _I smiled at him, "_I could have quit hours ago, but I don't really want to go home right now."_

_"Caroline giving you trouble again?" _He'd asked.

_"Like you wouldn't believe. When she… when I almost lost her… it's horrible, but all I could think is I didn't want her to die hating me."_

_"She doesn't hate you, Liz." _Damon sighed. "_She's just a teenager. I wish when I was her age I'd had someone who loved me so much."_

I looked at him curiously. Damon never really talked about his past, _"What do you mean?"_

He looked at me for a long moment before he began to speak. _"My father and I didn't get along. We disagreed on a lot of things… He always seemed to favor Stefan and I was jealous. But after he died, I realized that we'd never get the chance to reconcile our differences. It' burned at me for a long time."_

_"I'm sorry. That must be difficult for you."_

_"I'm over it now. I guess I just think of it when I see a parent actually trying to do right by their child. You're a good person, Liz. Caroline will see that one day."_

"_Thank you. That means a lot to me." _I felt comforted by his words and gave him a soft smile before wrinkling my nose at the smell of booze that wafted up to me,_"But please, let me drive you home."_

* * *

And I had driven him home, rather uneventfully. My biggest concern at the time was whether or not he'd vomit in my cruiser, not whether or not he'd kill me. He'd thanked me and promised to sober up before he went out to retrieve his car.

He had been my pillar of strength, my comfort, my friend. He was a murderer, a killer, a vile monster. As much as my irrational brain cared about him, I could not forgive him.

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Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Please Review!


	11. Chapter 11

An uneventful week passed. With the Salvatores out of town, it seemed like the vampire activity died away. I began procuring blood from the hospital for Caroline to prevent her from having to steal it.

"Mom this blood bag's almost expired." She said, wrinkling her nose at it. I sighed, rolling my eyes. She had always been like this with food. I'd buy the stuff from the bargain bin to save a buck and she would turn her nose up at it because it wasn't fresh.

"Don't you think the people who need blood transfusions will need the fresh stuff more?" I pointed out. She glared at me. "It's not going to kill you, now is it?"

"Doesn't mean I want to taste it." She huffed.

"I'm sure it tastes fine. You haven't even tried it." I said chidingly.

She looked at it a bit dubiously and finally pulled the tab to open it, sniffing it like it was potentially rotten milk. I watched as she took a tentative sip... then another. I was getting over the sight of her drinking blood, especially when she did so in such a comical way.

"Well?" I inquired after she had downed nearly half the contents.

"Fine." She said as though she was doing me a favor by drinking it. "I guess it's… edible."

"Atta girl." I said and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" She called after me.

"I'm interviewing new candidates for the open deputy position." I told her. "The last one quit after the latest bout of attacks." It felt strange to discuss this so openly with her, I had raised her to keep her away from the family business after all.

"Hope you find a good one!" she called after me.

* * *

I sat at my desk considering the young man before me. After Casey quit, it left an opening for a new deputy so I'd sifted through the résumés and made a selection. Kurt Locke looked nice in a suit, Caucasian, approximately 6 foot, early thirties with short sandy brown hair and dark eyes. A small healed scar graced his left cheek. He was a transplant from Los Angeles where he had been a detective before being demoted under ambiguous circumstances. He was unmarried with no kids so I didn't have to worry about who would support his family when he turned up dead. A morbid thought, but after Casey quit I decided it would be a good idea to take that into consideration when making new hires.

What really interested me about him in particular was when I had called his previous commanding officer. He had told me that Kurt had been a good cop but must have cracked under the pressure and recommended I give him a psych evaluation before taking him on.

Apparently he'd thought there were vampires after him.

While he may have been crazy, it was just as possible that he'd had an actual encounter with one. I shuddered to think how many vampires there must be in LA with so many people, so much night life, and so much regular crime to cover it up.

"Virginia's a long way from California, what made you decide to move here?" I asked, proceeding with the interview.

"I thought it would be good to get a fresh start. I assume you've already talked to Ralph."

"He said you believed in vampires." I said, challenging him.

He flushed but leaned in. "With all do respect, Sheriff, don't you?"

I cocked a brow at his boldness.

"Or are you going to tell me that wasn't vervain you spiked my drink with when I came in?" He asked in hushed tones.

I smiled slightly. "Guilty. Tell me about your experience with vampires."

* * *

After hiring Kurt on, I was called to the Grill for a public disturbance. I glanced at the clock in my cruiser which read 6:30 pm. Someone had gotten an early start.

It was almost normal, without the vampire attacks I had begun to let my guard down, bit by bit. Perhaps it was foolish of me, but I longed to at least pretend for a while that I lived in the normal world, and not one where I had to be on the lookout for the next body to show up.

I still felt weird going into the Grill after what had happened, but I put on my professional face as I parked out front. It would be packed this time of day with people getting out of work and the last thing I needed them to see was me cracking under the horrific memories.

As I stepped inside, my eyes first trailed to the spot on the floor where Jeremy had lain dead before me. There was only the slightest discoloration on the wood floor, and only then if you were looking for it, but my heart skipped a beat all the same. Forcing my gaze from the sight of my sin, I scanned the crowd for the cause of the disturbance.

I didn't have to search long, people were staring after all, and Matt was standing beside the cause of the issue. My stomach clenched as I realized it was Alaric Saltzman.

I hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to him, but I knew he was in deep when it came to the 'other side' of Mystic Falls. I also knew he was dating Jenna Somers when she died under mysterious circumstances.

We had hauled him in for questioning, as was procedure. Sadly, most of the time the significant other was responsible in a murder case, but he was released shortly thereafter when we examined the body. She had been a vampire.

I asked Caroline about it. She didn't go into specifics, but said that Jenna had been turned the same day she died against her will. She said that it was not the Salvatores that had done it and the one that had was gone. I had left it at that.

I stepped confidently forward, feeling broken glass crunch under my boot. Another patron was clenching a bleeding hand and staring at Alaric hatefully.

"What happened here?" I asked Matt. He looked vaguely regretful as he responded.

"Alaric's been here since noon. Vinnie Busto here," he gestured with disdain to the man clenching his hand, "-said some things that upset him and Alaric threw his glass at him."

"This guy attacked me for no reason. I want to press charges." The man added.

I nodded. "Sir, I suggest you first get medical treatment for your hand, it is bleeding pretty badly. Go to the police station afterwards and we'll collect your statement and help you with the relevant paperwork. I'll take care of him." I nodded towards Alaric, who was being unsettlingly quiet.

The man looked like he wanted to argue, but I pinned him with my best 'don't talk back to the sheriff' look. He agreed to go to the hospital.

I looked regretfully at Alaric. He must be hurting badly right now, and this incident would not sit well with his current employment at the high school. With a sigh, I produced my cuffs and read him his rights.

* * *

I put Alaric in my backseat and began to drive. He still had not said a word, so I offered up the olive branch. "I'm sorry… about Jenna."

He looked up at me and I saw a stray tear. "Thanks."

Well that was something at least. "What did that guy say to get you so riled up anyway?"

Alaric closed his eyes and let out a breath. "It doesn't matter. I shouldn't have taken the bait. He wasn't worth it."

"No, you probably shouldn't have." I sadly agreed. "I don't know what I'm going to do for you. You can argue that it was a legitimate fight, but attacking him with broken glass will still be considered excessive force."

"I don't care." He said coldly. "Lock me up. It doesn't matter."

"What about Elena and Jeremy? I've looked the other way, but they're both still kids. Elena might be able to get emancipated status, but Jeremy?"

"They are probably better without me."

"That's not true and you know it."

"Isn't it?" He glared. "All this is happening because of how entrenched we are in the supernatural world. I'm part of that, but Jenna didn't have to be. She's dead because of me."

"Your first wife… She disappeared mysteriously. Is that how you found out?"

Alaric looked positively deflated and nodded. "She was obsessed with the possibility of immortality. It was only a matter of time before she found a vampire willing to turn her."

I looked horrified. Who would choose this path? "Did she come after you?"

Alaric shook his head. "She ran away. I spent years tracking her down and going over her research. I learned about vampires, how to hunt them. I knew she wasn't dead. When I saw her again… she told me what she'd done. Why she'd done it. I was finally able to move on."

"That's awful."

"It was. But I needed to know the truth. Damon had told me that was what happened, but I couldn't really believe it until I heard it from her myself." He sighed.

My eyes widened and I backpedaled. "Wait wait wait, Damon? What did he have to do with this?"

"He's the one that turned my wife… and the reason I came to Mystic Falls. He told me that Isabelle had wanted to be a vampire, but I wasn't interested in believing him. I attacked him at his home."

"And he let you live?"

Alaric laughed. "No, no he definitely killed me."

I stiffened in my seat and asked steadily. "So you're a vampire?"

"Human, I assure you, sheriff. I have a ring that Isabelle gave me. It protects me from dying a supernatural death- such as having my neck snapped by a vampire."

"That's… convenient." I finally managed to say. It sounded bizarre, impossible, but who was I to judge a magic ring in the face of all I'd seen. "What did he do when you didn't stay dead?"

Alaric sighed. "It was a bit strange, but we kind of became friends after that…"

I looked at him in disbelief in the rearview and nearly missed my turn. Luckily the other cars on the road were driving extra cautiously around the cruiser and swerved out of my way as I cut the corner way too fast. I finally pulled the cruiser over and turned around to actually face Alaric. "You said you were a vampire hunter. You said he killed your wife. Why on earth would you become friends with him?"

Alaric sighed. "It's complicated… but given what I know, it's not easy to have normal friendships. Surely you know that?"

My own lack of friends could speak volumes on the subject of trying to be friends with someone you had to keep secrets from. "He's a murderer."

"I know. I'm not a fan of it, believe me. But he's helped me out. I've helped him out. He was there for me with a bottle of bourbon the night Jenna died. He helped me keep it together. If that's not friendship, I don't know what is."

* * *

Alaric had given me a questioning look as I dropped him off at the Gilbert house. I told him not to worry about it, to get some sleep and we'd talk in the morning. I couldn't bring him in like this, when he was so obviously not in his normal state of mind. What would a night in lockup do for him?

I had been a mess when Bill had left me. He hadn't even died, but he was more than dead to me. Maybe I would have felt better if a vampire had gotten him and I could have gone on thinking that he'd never betrayed me. I went out and tried to drown my sorrows. When the bartender tried to cut me off, I threatened to use my influence as Sheriff to have his liquor license revoked. I let myself get obliterated after that.

Carol had finally come to get me. I don't remember much of the conversation, but I think she was upset about having to cover up the whole scandal more than she was worried about my emotional well-being. But she had gotten me home safe, given me some water and settled me into bed with the promise that we'd talk about it in the morning.

_"Sheriff Forbes, come in please."_My radio buzzed to life.

"This is Sheriff Forbes, go ahead."

_"We have a gentleman here who was involved in an altercation at the Grill this evening. He's asking for you. Over."_

I sighed. Couldn't they just take his damn report and leave me out of it? "10-4, I'll be there in 15. Over and out."

* * *

I called Caroline on my way to the station and asked her to meet me there. If I wasn't sure about what I was about to do, I was when I entered the precinct to Vinnie's shouting.

"I come in here and find out you're not even holding the guy? What did you take him home or something?!" He exclaimed. I sent a deadly look to deputy Miles, who was manning the counter as he hid sheepishly behind his computer screen.

"Let's talk in my office please." I said calmly. Vinnie wasn't having it.

"How could you have let him go? The man is dangerous! He attacked me, and we all know what happened to his girlfriend-"

Pieces snapped into place. "That's why he attacked you, isn't it?" I interrupted.

Vinnie sneered. "I only said what everyone else in the place was thinking. No one wanted him there. Guy was weird enough before this all happened. Now that we know he killed his girlfriend-"

"Might I remind you that you're talking to an officer of the law?" I said cooly. "Defamation is a serious offense. We investigated the death of Jenna Sommers and found no evidence that Mr. Saltzman was involved. Unless you personally know something to the contrary, he is innocent in the eyes of the law."

"What… _What? _You're defending this piece of-"

"Mr. Busto, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises and return when you're in a calmer state of mind. If this continues, I will be forced to arrest you for defamation and creating a public disturbance."

Vinnie sputtered and then gave me a look that promised retribution. He looked to deputy Miles who was still hiding behind his computer screen throughout the entire situation and found no support there. He stalked off.

I let out a heavy breath and directed my anger towards the deputy. "Care to explain to me why you told him Saltzman wasn't here?"

"I didn't know… I thought he was trying to bail the guy out." I rolled my eyes.

"And you wonder why you always end up on desk duty…" I grumbled.

Stepping outside I saw Vinnie at the end of the parking lot talking to Caroline. His eyes were locked with hers as he nodded mindlessly in agreement to every word she said.

* * *

Sorry about the big gap in updates. School and the fact that I've been having a little trouble finding my footing in the story are to blame. I know how it will end, but there's so much more to explore before we get there. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and a little Alaric action, even if he wasn't 100%.


	12. Chapter 12

I opened the wooden box I kept inside my desk, looking at the few meager sprigs of vervain I had left. Damon's deliveries had always been ample, but given the amount of time it had been since his last and the fact that we were attempting to inoculate the town with it, we had more than depleted our source. Vervain was potent against vampires, but could only be diluted so far before it lost its efficacy.

I didn't want the deputies to know about Damon- not yet. A raid on his house could lead to questions that I didn't want to answer... I decided to take my new deputy, Kurt with me. He was still unfamiliar with the town and wouldn't know the Salvatore residence or my relationship with Damon.

"So this guy grew vervain for you, but he up and disappeared?" Kurt summarized. I nodded.

"I don't think there are vampires in the house, he's been gone a few weeks, but I didn't want to go in without backup. Just in case."

"Yeah… just in case." Kurt trailed off, seemingly not a fan of this plan.

Everyone involved with vampires had a tragic story, Kurt was no exception. He spilled the whole tale out during his interview. His partner on the LAPD, Alison had been killed taking a bullet for him. That was traumatic enough, but then Kurt started seeing her at night, following him, watching him. He had thought he was going nuts, until she attacked him. He managed to escape, but when he had told them that his dead partner was trying to kill him, they had thought he was losing it. It was easy to believe given the guilt he must feel for her death.

Kurt thought he must be crazy too, but the questions still bothered him. When they had caught him trying to dig up her grave, he'd been committed. He'd met a therapist at the mental health facility who, after treating so many patients in the after-effects of vampire attacks, immediately recognized that he must have really seen what he claimed to. She had kept him there, explaining vampires and how to kill them under the guise of treatment. When he was released a month later, he was ready for Alison when she'd sought him out again.

He'd incapacitated her with the Vervain he'd been consuming as she drank his blood. He was about to stake her and hesitated, asked her why she kept coming after him. She said she blamed him, that all of this was his fault. That she had loved him. He then killed her. He never found the vampire that turned her.

It was all pretty screwed up to me, but he had taken down a vampire, and that was what was important. Part of me wondered why Kurt's partner would try to kill him, and my daughter try to save me?

I couldn't pretend to understand vampires, but I was glad that my daughter was one of the 'good' ones.

We pulled up to the house and Kurt whistled low. "Nice place. Wouldn't mind living here myself. It for sale yet?"

I glared at Kurt. "The owner only disappeared two weeks ago."

"So too soon?"

"In more ways than one." I muttered, but I appreciated his tactlessness somewhat. It distracted me from what I was about to do.

Caroline assured me that both Salvatore vampires were absent, but as we stepped out of the car, I still felt a chill go down my spine looking up at the house. Where Kurt saw a potential home, I saw a heart-crushing chamber of doom.

I tried the door and found it open, apparently vampires weren't too concerned about break-ins. Drawing my weapon, I nodded silently to Kurt. He became all business, drawing his own weapon and adopting a serious look on his face. We pushed the creaking door open.

Daylight streamed through the slightly parted, lighting up little dust particles as they floated aimlessly in the air. It looked dark otherwise, quiet, unlived in. I motioned Kurt forward and we made our way to the basement where I had spotted Damon's cell when he had suffered from (apparently) a bout of temporary insanity, a fridge full of blood, and a planter full of vervain.

Apparently it was also the place where I had been kept when I first learned their secret. With vampires caring for me, I had slept three nights in this basement only to have it compelled away.

We tried the light leading into the basement, but of course it didn't work. Flipping on our flashlights, we descended into the darkness. As we rounded the corner at the base of the stairs to see the dungeon cell, I thought perhaps it would look more familiar given the significance, but nothing triggered memories of those nights. I merely remembered holding Saltzman at gunpoint before being attacked by Damon when he made his escape.

If Kurt noticed the way my breath hitched as I looked upon certain elements, or the uncertainty in my eyes and I swept from side to side with my flashlight in the darkness, he said nothing. His eyes did widen as he noticed the hefty lock and the bars on the door.

"You're friend was a little kinky, eh?" He muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"It's designed to hold a vampire, in case we can't dispatch them right away." I explained. Not entirely true, but an acceptable lie- certainly one he would find believable.

"Oh… so where's your vervain?"

After one last sweep around the room, I lowered my flashlight, accepting what I'd already suspected to be true. "It's not here."

* * *

Without vervain we had no choice but to pull the inoculation program, so we would have enough to supply the council members and my deputies for some time. I justified it with the knowledge that there hadn't been any attacks in some time, but Carol still looked at me skeptically.

"What happened to Damon Salvatore?" She asked, studying my reaction intently. She thought I knew something.

"I don't know." I told her honestly as I had no idea where the vampire had gone off to.

"Then how do you know he isn't dead? His brother's been missing for a while too, hasn't he? If people are disappearing, how do we know that vampires aren't responsible?"

I shrugged helplessly. How could I explain to her what I knew without telling her the whole story about putting Caroline in danger? "Regardless, we don't have enough to protect everyone in this town. We have to keep it to those most at risk- the council members."

"I told you what would happen if you couldn't keep this town safe."

"I know… we'll find a new grower, it will just take some time to get the new plants up to maturity."

"See that it's done." She said viciously.

* * *

Someone must have been looking after me, as the answer to the vervain shortage dropped itself in my lap later that day. With all the freak accidents and supernatural murders, sometimes I forgot that I also had normal, human criminals to deal with.

As I entered the interrogation room, I studied the gangly-looking and unkempt young man who was shifting nervously in his seat under my gaze. Curly black hair fell around his shifty eyes and his stubbly chin shifted as he bit his lip. I flipped through the pages on my clipboard and began to read aloud.

"Arthur King, possession of marijuana over 50kg with intent to distribute, manufacture of marijuana, distribution to a minor, trafficking across state lines, and resisting arrest. Did I miss anything Mr. King?"

He was looking determinedly at the table in front of him when he cleared his throat. "I'd like to speak with a lawyer."

"Mr. King, I don't think a lawyer is going to help you much at this point." I pointed out. "The only way you're going to get out of this is by working with me here."

"You want names?" He guessed. "Too bad. I'm not a rat."

"The kids you were dealing to had no problem spilling their guts to avoid fines and community service. If this goes to trial, you'll be going away for a long time."

He said nothing so I continued. "Quite a setup you had going in your basement. Over 80 plants we counted? All healthy. You took good care of them. If only you'd picked something less illegal to grow. Mr. King, I'm not a fan of marijuana, but I think we both know the penalties for it are too severe. You're only 23 years old and I'm prepared to offer you a deal in exchange for your cooperation."

He finally looked at me. "I'm listening." He said nervously.

"You won't see the inside of a cell, in fact I can have all the charges dropped. In exchanged you will stop growing cannabis and grow this instead." I slid a sprig across to him. He looked at me with confusion, sniffing the vervain.

"I don't recognize it."

"_Verbena officianalis. _Vervain. It's not illegal, but I've found myself in need of a large quantity of it. If you can't do it, then that's fine. This conversation will be over and you _will _go to jail."

"Well…. When you put it so persuasively." He said, smiling and gesturing to the cuffs on his hands.

* * *

We fitted King with a GPS ankle bracelet and sent him back to his hydroponics lab with 24 seeds to get him started. He didn't ask questions, and didn't protest, seemed to know better than to do so.

He'd immediately hopped on that creature known as the internet that made no sense to me or anyone else over the age of 45 and informed me that it would take about three to four months to mature. It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was at least something to report back to Carol before she had me fired.

I was beginning to be cautiously optimistic. I had a new vervain supplier, vampire attacks were non-existent, and my relationship with Caroline was better than it had ever been since the divorce.

But I should have known better, things don't last, especially in Mystic Falls. I was on my normal route that I liked to patrol before calling it a night, just outside the grill. It was then that I heard a scream.

"Please. Somebody help me!" Came the shrill cry and I threw the cruiser into park and exited the car.

I felt the gun at my hip as I raced across the parking lot to the alley behind it where I was certain the sound had come from. I heard a gurgle and heavy, unsteady footsteps, then a resounding thump. "Hello?!" I called out "This is Sheriff Forbes, I am coming back to help you!"

"Please hurry." I identified the voice as female, she sounded weaker.

As I rounded the corner, I caught sight of her and stopped short for a moment. The light in the alley was poor and I had to strain to get any of the details before me. I wish I hadn't. I didn't recognize her, which I was thankful for as she was covered in blood. She seemed maimed as she was on her stomach, her legs hanging limply behind her, using her hands, now scraped and bloody to drag herself out of the alley.

Regaining myself, I grabbed hold of my police radio "I need an ambulance at the south alley at the Grill." I managed and then knelt down beside her. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Rachel… Harris" She managed. Her voice shook. She was clearly young, twenty at most. She shook in the cold. She pressed one hand to her neck, confirming my suspicions.

"I'm Liz Forbes, I'm a police officer. There's an ambulance on the way. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"He bit me… he…" Her voice rose in hysteria.

"Rachel. Just keep calm okay?"

But Rachel had lost consciousness.

The ambulance came two minutes later. I followed it back to the hospital. I was told Rachel was stabilized but still hadn't regained consciousness. With nothing else pressing at the moment, I stayed at the hospital, waiting and dreading the conversation I would have with her. Kurt was there and offered to handle the situation for me, but I declined. This was personal. A vampire had attacked her, and I had to know which one before I decided what to do.

I nervously held the photo between my thumb and forefinger in the waiting room, bit my lips. Mystic Falls is a small town and the only other people there were too wrapped up in their own worry to pay me any mind. The smell of alcohol wipes and examination gloves kept me rooted as I sat, a lump forming in my throat. Either _he _had returned or a new vampire was in town. I wouldn't consider Caroline an option.

The nurse finally came in to tell me Rachel was awake.

I stepped into her room. The nurse clucked, giving me a warning look that a mother bear might give a threat eyeing her cub. "She's still weak, keep it short." She commanded. I nodded dutifully.

I stepped inside the room and was greeted by the sound of whirring IV pumps and the hiss of oxygen. Blood hung and was infusing steadily into her right arm and I wondered how much of an impact Caroline was having on the local blood supply.

Rachel was sitting up, looking much better, which wasn't saying much. She regarded me with tired eyes. "Rachel, My name is Liz Forbes… "

"I remember you… you found me." She said softly.

"Yes, I was wondering if you felt up to answering a few questions?"

She looked a bit uncertain, but nodded. "It was the strangest thing… I must have been hallucinating, but they said it looked like an animal attacked me."

"You thought it was a person?"

"Yeah…"

The paper was heavy as concrete as I lifted it. "Is the person that attacked you on this page?"

Her eyes widened, her breathing accelerated and the device monitoring her vitals suddenly beeped an urgent alarm. She didn't look tired anymore. "That's him, right there. I'm absolutely sure of it!" She pointed and I shut my eyes as I was ushered from the room by the irate nurse.

Rachel had just positively identified Damon Salvatore as her assailant.

* * *

_Dun Dun DUN! Has Damon gone off the deep end? How will Liz deal with the latest attack? Stay tuned for the next episode of "Human!" _

_Alright alright, sorry. Please Review :)_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: Sorry for the lack of updates. I had (and still have) schoolwork like crazy and had to write a 16 page paper on Crohn's Disease. I have quite a bit of this written, but have been sitting on it since I am a little up in the air about how to handle this part of the story. Let me know what you think!

* * *

I left the hospital breezing past Kurt even as he tried to flag me down. I was seeing red I was so angry. How dare he? I kept his secret against my better judgment, even after finding out about his killings and he has the gall to attack another in my town. Why did I keep his secret after all that? Was it just for Caroline or something more than that?

Why would he come back now? Why announce his presence so blatantly? Why hadn't he compelled the girl? So many questions and again I was lacking answers. The girl had survived, but she wouldn't have without medical treatment. As it was she'd be scarred both literally and figuratively for life.

In spite of the hard facts in front of me, her reaction at seeing Damon's picture, I still felt a niggling doubt in my mind. My cop sense was tingling, telling me something wasn't right about all this. I didn't know who to trust at this point but I had to talk to someone.

"Sheriff… Liz?" A voice brought me away from my thoughts. Kurt stood there, looking slightly out of breath. It was then that I realized that I was panting as well- I had run all the way out of the hospital, across the parking lot, and now stood on the edge of the foggy woods.

I didn't know what to say to him to explain my outburst, so I just stayed silent.

"Liz… I know you thought that the attacks were over. But this is why I'm here, so please tell me what I can do to help." He said softly. I looked at him and saw my own naiveté that the world was simple black and white. Vampires evil. Humans good.

"Just give me a minute." I muttered.

He nodded and stepped back. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes I had bought that night some weeks ago. I nearly crushed the filter between my fingers as I lit the damn thing. I offered one to Kurt and he accepted it.

"You know these things are bad for you." Kurt muttered.

"All things in moderation." I replied.

* * *

There wasn't much that could be done that evening so we headed to the 24-hour Waffle House Diner on the edge of town. Kurt ordered the chocolate chip pancakes. I got the Denver omelet. I wasn't making much headway on my food.

"Really?" I questioned drily as the waitress plopped the steamy pancakes in front of him with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

"What? Isn't it a little ironic for _you_ to be questioning me on defying gender stereotypes?" He pointed out, taking a healthy bite for emphasis. I snorted. I was Mystic Falls' first female Sheriff so I suppose he had a point.

"Not so much gender as age… I haven't ordered chocolate chip pancakes since I was seven."

"Well you're missing out then." He said with a grin.

I found that in spite of the playful back and forth, I could not smile with him. We ate in companionable silence for a while (Well, he ate, I picked). Eventually we came to discuss the elephant in the room.

"So did you learn anything from the victim?" He asked me, pushing the syrup-stained plate aside.

"Just that it wasn't an animal that bit her, it was definitely a vampire and he didn't bother to compel her afterwards." I revealed carefully.

Kurt whistled low. "That's cocky, even for a bloodsucker. He probably didn't expect her to survive."

"That's just it though. Why didn't he finish draining her?" I thought out loud.

"Maybe he got interrupted?" Kurt mused. I shook my head.

"She didn't say anything of the sort and there was no one else when I got there." I sighed. "It seems cut and dry but something just doesn't add up."

Kurt shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "They're vampires, they aren't supposed to make sense."

If nothing else, that was true.

* * *

I was doing it again- that thing where I get quiet when something's wrong. It was a lazy Sunday and Caroline was not-so-subtly sneaking looks at me from across the room. I was at the kitchen table staring at lukewarm coffee and burnt pancakes soaked in maple-flavored corn syrup- not quite as good as chocolate chip I supposed, but my specialty nonetheless. I had no idea what to do at this point. Do I out Damon? Do I talk to Caroline about it?

"Hot coffee for your thoughts?" Caroline finally cut in, replacing my rapidly cooling mug with a fresh one.

I looked at Caroline, I saw my daughter looking at me with worry. "Do you know anything about the latest attack?"

"No, but we are looking into it. We'll let you know when we find something." We. Her band of children and monsters who were doing a better job of keeping the town safe through unconventional means than I ever had.

"The girl identified Damon as her attacker." I finally said. Caroline's breath, unnecessary thought it may be, hitched at the confession.

"It wasn't Damon." She said confidently. "He's not even in town."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know okay? This isn't his style anyway. He would have compelled her to forget." She pointed out, confirming her knowledge of Damon's eating habits.

"You _knew _he fed on people?" I asked, feeling naïve again.

"Mom, does Damon strike you as the type to eat bunnies or bloodbags?" Caroline snapped in exasperation.

"…and you're okay with it." I said flatly.

"Mom, if people aren't dying, if they don't even remember what happened, isn't that the same as getting a blood donation… just, you know- more directly?" She said, waving her arms dramatically for emphasis.

"That girl would have died. And she does remember. And it's not a donation if it's not freely given." I pointed out angrily.

"Look, regardless of what's right or wrong, I'm telling you, I am absolutely positive that this is not Damon's work."

I took a deep breath, letting some of my anger out with the exhale and nodded, "I know he's your friend, Caroline… but I saw this girl's face when she saw his picture. She recognized Damon and she was terrified."

I saw doubt flicker in her eyes for the first time and she sighed. "Alright… I'll keep an eye out for him… just be careful, mom? In either case..."

* * *

I was on my way to investigate some of the foreclosures on the edge of town when my radio flared to life. "All units please respond, we have a fire at Irving and Delilah, multiple building involvement, at least one casualty…"

I frowned, flipping on my siren and turning around.

Arthur King, my vervain grower lived there.

As I pulled up my suspicions were confirmed as I found the house we had raided only weeks prior was ablaze and had set his two neighbors houses alight. I didn't have to wonder long if the drug dealer was still trapped inside. His body was suspended from two trees in the front yard with his front gutted and his entrails hanging out.

Onlookers were gawking and I scowled at Deputy Miles. "Why haven't you established a further perimeter? Do you want to be responsible if something explodes and hits someone?" I demanded. Miles flushed and beckoned a few officers to assist him in forcing the crowd back.

Too many people had seen the body, but since King was a known dealer, we ran with the story that the house and murder had probably been the result of his own seedy activities.

I felt guilt for bringing a civilian on the job in the first place, he had not even known about the existence of vampires, had no idea what would come after him if they found out what he was growing. In addition the fire left little hope that any seedlings had survived and Mystic Falls Council of Founding Families was once again left woefully ill-stocked.


	14. Chapter 14

I posted deputies outside of all the late night bars and restaurants in town. Kurt and I took the Mystic Grill where the last attack had taken place. Three long nights went by without any sign of vampires and all of us were holding our breath in anticipation and dread. We knew there was a vampire out there, knew that it would kill again and it was only a matter of time. Guilt clawed at me, knowing the identity of the vampire and yet saying nothing. What was wrong with me?

Kurt stood across from me outside the grill having an easy conversation. "So I got to the ER, and sure enough he had a vacuum hose stuck up his…"

"Don't finish that, I don't need to know." I held up a pleading hand, my face contorting into a disgusted look. We were trading stories of the weirdest criminals we had encountered and I was beginning to regret bringing up the subject.

"No it gets better, he was using it to shove-" He made a fisting hand motion.

"Kurt, I don't need a visual!"

"I had to call animal control and-"

A scream interrupted him. We looked wide-eyed at each other before running in the direction of the cry, drawing our guns. It was coming from a small but densely wooded area in the nearby park. We stuck close together, but were having trouble covering ground so we split up. In the darkened trees, blocking out the safety of the nearby streetlamps, I finally tripped over something. It was a young man staring up at the sky, missing his trachea, covered in fresh warm blood, and quite dead.

I didn't dare spare the body another look, instead peering wide eyed into the darkness.

Kurt suddenly appeared, aiming his gun at me. My eyes widened in horror as I thought he had mistaken me for the vampire in the darkness. His gun fired six times and I realized he'd been shooting over my right shoulder when an inhuman hiss reached my ears.

I turned just fast enough to see a dark figure stumble then speed away. Kurt rushed towards me, a look of worry plain across his furrowed brow. "Liz? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I realized my arm was shaking when I reached for the radio at my shoulder to report the homicide. "Did you get a good look at him?"

Kurt shook his head. "It's dark… Caucasian, dark hair, average height, vampire."

That description could match any number of people, but it sounded like Damon to me.

* * *

I had stopped alone at the Salvatore mansion, knowing the foolishness of the action, and armed to the teeth, ready to put an end to this game of cat and mouse. I did not bring Kurt, why should I endanger another who I couldn't even trust with the truth of my secrets? As I broke in once again, I found that it was just as empty as the last time I had gone there. I let out a long sigh, lowering my gun and letting go of some of the irrational frustration and fury that had spurned me to come here alone in the first place. If Damon had been here, would I have been able to take him down anyway?

As I stepped back into the cool night, wind rustling with the smell of distant burning leaves and the chill of impending winter, the sounds of night washing over me. What a beautiful, simple thing and yet I could not enjoy it without the fear of attack.

Stillness and silence came as the breeze settled. The chirping crickets and wary creatures of the night seemingly silent and I felt a foreboding in my bones at the sudden change. My hand went unconsciously for my gun, but as it turned out, I was too late.

I crashed to the ground a moment later, never seeing my attacker.

* * *

My head ached as I came into consciousness, stiffening as memories of what had occurred flowing back into my awareness. I fought to control my reaction, subtly moving my hands and sensing no bonds there. A vampire would not need to have me bound. Had Damon returned home to find me snooping around?

I peeked my eyes open cautiously. I was on the floor, cement in a dark, but not lightless room. The basement of the Salvatore mansion, I realized. I saw him staring at me there, a wicked curl of a grin on his smug and familiar face. A shock of dark hair and eyes that saw through me. I knew this vampire that had attacked me, and he knew me. Why was he watching me like this?

It wasn't Damon.

"To think… of all the people in the world, it would be you." He spoke finally. His voice had a metallic quality to it and was foreign to me. He hadn't spoken at all the last time I had encountered him, so many years ago in Richmond. Here was the first vampire I had met, the vampire that had seared my face into his memory. "I came back and looked for you- and your friend after that night, I saw you, but you were careful. I was hurt when you left and didn't come back."

I pushed myself slowly, consciously to a sitting position, my eyes locked on him.

"How serendipitous it should be that the very one I was sent to fool would be the one that got away from me so many years ago. Is your friend here too I wonder?" He asked whimsically.

"You're the one that attacked that girl." I said softly as I realized.

"It takes a lot of restraint to stop feeding once you've started, I've never been one for restraint, but I managed." He affirmed. "I am curious now that it was you I was sent to trick. To shatter the trust you had in a vampire of all things? I must applaud you for your open-mindedness."

"Who sent you?" I ground out.

He laughed and a shudder worked its way down my spine at the sound. "That I cannot say, though it would hurt little to tell you about it, wouldn't it? You won't make it out of here alive."

My eyes made quick darts about the room, looking for an escape, for a weapon before quickly coming back to him. I knew that in the time it took me to look away and back again he could move and I would completely miss it. I spotted few things that could help me: A single exit, fragile-looking wooden scrap…

He tilted his head and regarded me with a soft smile pressed on his lips. "I'm glad it was you. I've dreamed about torturing you, you know. I wondered what kind of sounds you'd make. Would you cry out immediately or try to save face until the pain overtook you?"

He took a step forward and I held my head high, chin jutting out defiantly. "If it's all the same to you, I'd have it over with."

"I suspect the latter." He commented, almost as if he hadn't heard me before stepping away. It was then that I noticed the table, an antique and dusty affair with years of scratches, dents, and water stains upon its once proud surface. I could not see what was on it from my angle on the ground, but the vampire before me obligingly reached over to pick up a fireplace poker from its surface. He turned it over in his hands thoughtfully, then seemingly rejecting it, chose a leather whip with cruelly twisted metal shavings dangling from its multiple tips. "No, they're not mine. Your friend is either very kinky or has some secrets of his own. Again, I suspect the latter."

I felt my insides grow cold at the prospect of being tortured. I wanted to scream, run, do something, but I was frozen in place, watching him test the whip. It let out an impressive crack and I couldn't help but flinch. _It's alright, Liz. It'll be over soon. _What's a little pain to remind me I'm alive in the prospect of dying? "Get on with it, vampire." I hissed.

"It's Bernard." He supplied absentmindedly.

"Bernard? The big scary vampire's name is Bernard?Well then get on with it, Bernie." I said. I couldn't help myself, I wasn't expecting that.

"Naming conventions were different in my day." He said, sounding almost defensive.

"And when was that? Explains what you're wearing anyway…" I snapped back, channeling my inner Caroline.

He looked like he was about to argue again, but then he smiled again. "You're trying to stall me."

"No shit." I wasn't a fan of swearing, but the situation warranted it. "I'm about to be tortured by a vampire named Bernie."

He sneered and the whip fell upon me. The metal tore through my uniform, leaving red lines that began to ooze blood. I didn't cry out, but the pain caused tears to well in my eyes. I heard him inhale sharply. "Oh… oh you smell delicious. Did you ever give your vampire friend a taste I wonder?"

"Why don't you come have a taste?" I taunted. The whip fell again, lashing over the previously opened skin, feeling like a group of razors slicing superficially in unison. I bit through my lip to prevent from crying out. Damn, but it hurt. I was scrambling away in spite of my resolve not to show weakness, hitting the wall of the cell where I could go no further. I didn't know how long I would be able to go before giving him the satisfaction of my cries. Again the whip fell, and again. Ten minutes or an eternity went by, I couldn't be sure. I tasted my own blood in my mouth. "At this rate, there'll be none left for you." I pointed out. It was true, my blood was seeping onto the floor, wasted. I saw him lick his lips.

"You amuse me, Elizabeth- may I call you Liz? It seems too intimate a thing, being here as you perish to not use your proper name. " He set the whip aside, and lifted up a wickedly curved knife. "A skinning knife, they use this to prise flesh from hide, flense meat from bone. An intimate tool for an intimate affair, don't you think?"

He approached me, footfalls a heavy dirge. I was beyond fear now, accepting my fate, my body had gone numb in protest of the amount of pain I had thus endured. I would not survive this, but that didn't mean I wouldn't go down without a fight.

Summoning the last of my strength, I launched myself at him, kicking and scratching. He laughed, catching me easily with one hand, the other sliced against my collar, sending a fresh stream of red down the front of my shirt. A detached part of me was impressed by the ability of the knife to slice so easily through my skin.

I was at the edge, about to succumb to the pain and fatigue of my injuries. It was then that fate intervened. Seeing the freely flowing blood must have driven him over the edge, because he bent his head to my neck and bit down.

The sounds of his swallows echoed in my ears along with heavy breathing. His hand was twisted in my hair and I wondered if this was how that girl at the bar had felt when Damon had fed off of her. The world was getting darker around me, edges of my vision blurred.

A moment passed, then another when I felt his grip weaken. I let out a breath. The vervain was taking hold.

He collapsed a moment later, looking at me with the same wide-eyed hatred as he had the night we met, but there was also fear there. I drank it in, stumbling to my feet, I pried the blade from his quickly loosening grip and used the last of my strength to plunge it into his neck. Like it had on me, the bloody knife sliced easily through his flesh but stuck when I hit spine. I sawed. Blood was spurting everywhere, getting on my face, my clothes, but I didn't care. The monster under me had lost consciousness, I wasn't sure if it was enough to bring him down for good though, I kept sawing, but the sharp blade was not meant to cut through bone.

The body beneath me began to grey and I realized that the monster was dead as a result of my hacking. I clung to the blade still, stumbling and bleeding as I was, I wouldn't make it far. I collapsed, looking out at the dark wall, accepting that if I was about to die, at least I took this bastard down with me. My thoughts turned to Caroline. I said a silent prayer for her to be safe and promised that if I made it into Heaven, I'd watch over her. I remembered when she'd come out of me, how they lay her warm body across my belly, how she cried a wriggled as she took her first breath in the world. It was good, it was how I wanted to go, thinking of my sweet baby girl…

* * *

The end... j/k


	15. Chapter 15

"You're a pain in the ass, you know?" Came a voice. I blinked, I felt strange, like my head was full of cotton. Did I fall asleep…? I didn't remember…

I shot up in bed, not my bed I noticed, realizing the voice belonged to Damon Salvatore. My bleary eyes were still only registering fuzzy shapes, so I simply scrambled away from where I thought his voice was coming from. Instead of more bed, my hand hit air and I fell unceremoniously to the floor with a resounding _whump!_

The voice scoffed harshly. "Nice to see you too."

"What… Where… How…" I started, my mouth working to catch up with my mind. I was left simply staring bewildered at the ceiling until his head popped out from the edge of the bed. I shrank back instinctively.

"Breathe Liz. You're at my place. What do you remember?" He said, not unkindly.

I glared at him a moment. Trying to remember was exactly what I was doing. How the hell had I ended up here of all places after the conclusion of our last meeting?

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he disappeared from view again, reappearing in a flash by my side, lifting me to my feet before I had time to react to the display.

I slapped his hands away and stumbled back, regaining my footing. He glared at me but abruptly turned his back to me and walked to the opposite end of the grand room before turning again.

I didn't feel right sitting back down on the bed, so I wearily made my way to the nearest chair and sat heavily. He watched me carefully and I suddenly caught lines of worry on his face as he regarded me that were just as quickly swept away with an air of indifference.

Did he do that on purpose?

"I thought you left town." I said.

"I did, for a while… Caroline asked me to come back about a week ago. I thought you might look for me here, so I've been staying at the old Salvatore estate."

I made a note to have a conversation with my daughter about her choice of friends. "What happened tonight, Damon?"

"Something… unexpected." He smirked.

My mind worked, my eyes widening in shock. "I came here looking for you… there was a vampire. He…" I was supposed to be dead, had I died?

"It was a stupid thing to do." He admonished me.

"Like I had a choice in the matter." I growled testily. "I thought it was you."

"Your vote of confidence has been duly noted." He said sarcastically. "So you decided to march in here and what? Slay me?"

"I had to do something."

He gave me a look the said he saw right through me. I sighed.

"What happened next?"

"I smelled your blood." He admitted.

I felt a sinking in my stomach. He could identify me just by the smell of my blood?

He seemed to read my mind. "I can smell it when I'm close to someone, just under the skin… almost like I imagine a snake tastes the air." I shivered at the creepy analogy. "With a wound like yours… I could smell you clear across the forest… so I tracked you. I found you here of all places. You were bleeding. I was… afraid that I wouldn't be able to save you."

Memories came to me unbidden. _Liz. Stay with me, Liz! Don't close your eyes. Drink Liz, drink!_

I touched my hands to my lips and then reached to my neck and felt for a wound that was no longer there, his eyes watching me carefully the whole time. My eyes widened and I managed to tear my gaze from him to look at myself. Red. My uniform was in shreds, caked in red. "You… your blood."

He looked away, as though shamed.

A cold feeling washed through me. "Did you… you didn't…"

"No. You won't turn into a vampire unless you do something _incredibly_ stupid… well, again. By itself my blood will heal your wounds, but if you die while it's still in your system… brand new baby vampire Liz."

Huh… I had never really learned the mechanics of how a vampire was made. I guess it never came up in polite conversation while I was trying to shove hunks of wood through their hearts.

He was avoiding my gaze, but now I was looking at him, a vampire that made no sense. I had chased him away with my anger, my bitterness, and my self-righteousness and he had returned to save my life in spite of it all. I tried to think of potential ulterior motives, but failed.

He was looking at the floor now, hesitation in his eyes. "Liz… I was hoping we could talk…"

I blinked, itching to get away from him and out of these clothes, but could not find it in me to deny his simple request after he'd saved my life so I just nodded.

Sitting there in that room was uncomfortable to put it mildly. No matter how many times I looked over at him, I still couldn't reconcile the betrayer with the man whom I had thought was my friend. Though Damon wasn't especially tall, he was tall enough and dominated the space of the large bedroom with his black clothes stretched tightly over his taut muscular frame, looking everything like a silken black panther, beautiful, predatory, dangerous.

I shuddered at my line of thinking.

One of those black shirts came sailing at me and I caught it instinctively. He gave me a wink as he ducked out of the room. "That door leads to the bathroom. Get changed."

* * *

I peeled the tacky shirt from my body and winced as it stuck to the skin in places, pulling and sticky. Was all of this blood really mine?

I decided a shower was in order, blood was still caked on my skin, irritating it.

I usually kept the water colder than most preferred but decided full blast heat was in order for this job. As the water particles and steam filled the chamber, I settled in and adjusted to the burn, fully aware that it was reddening me up like a lobster. Thoughts were beginning to surface that I presume my mind had been hiding from me, trying to protect me from the overwhelming fact of what I had just endured.

My hands sought out a bottle of soap- it was spicy and manly, and smelled like Damon, but I didn't care. I lathered it against my breasts, scrubbing with the rough pads of my hands to work the dried blood off. The skin beneath was smooth, unmarred, and my mind registered the impossibility as I had seen the metal catch and tear at me. The water ran red to the drain. I repeated the process across my body, washing away the blood. Flashes of another night, of Jeremy's limp body and the blood that pooled beneath him startled me into shutting my eyes and sinking to the floor of the tub. The blood was my sin, washing away.

Damon's blood had healed me- for some reason he saw fit to give me a second chance. I wrapped my arms around my legs and tucked them to my chest, resting my heavy head upon my knees. Once again I was reminded of my frailty, of my mortality and the mortality of those around me. I wept, thankful for the sounds of the shower to drown it out.

The water began to grow cold enough to spur me into action, but my movements were still tired, sluggish as I killed the water and stepped carefully out onto the bathmat, barely trusting myself to even walk. What right had I to survive when so many had fallen? Why had Damon saved me when he'd damned so many others?

I wrapped my rapidly chilling body in the black towel, savoring its long pile and fluffiness, of course he would have black towels and of course they'd be the expensive kind, not the ones in my household which were little more than glorified dishrags. Caroline had once saved her allowance for a whole month when she was twelve just to by her own set of fluffy pink ones.

As I shrugged the shirt on, satisfied that it covered me adequately, reaching my knees, I hesitated to leave the safe haven of the room. I had so many burning questions, and yet I was still not ready to face him. I was even more confused than before.

I took a deep breath and turned the ornate brass knob. The bedroom had been vacated and I sighed in relief before making my way from his chambers to the stairs.

* * *

He was seated upon the leather sofa already, but he looked upon me almost immediately and I froze. I urged my legs to move and they obliged but not without protest. Another of those cryptic looks passed across his face. I would have missed it had I not been staring with such attention: a subtle widening then narrowing of his eyes, blue- far too blue, and the slightest purse of his lips. He sighed and looked away and I could move again.

"I called Caroline. She's own her way." He broke the silence then cleared his throat. "Can I offer you a drink?"

I only nodded numbly. Liquid courage would help a lot right now. He hopped up to pour the single malt into the crystal tumbler for me.

I settled across from his seat and he set the glass before me. I downed it in one gulp. "Easy tiger, just because the wounds are sealed up doesn't mean you're at 100%."

True to his words the whiskey knocked me back and I coughed ungracefully.

"Stuff's too expensive to be drinking like that anyway." He mumbled, sounding scandalized.

Silence settled a moment before I broke it. "I suppose I should be thanking you..." I started out hesitantly.

"You suppose or you are?" He needled.

I glared at him. "_Thank you_, Damon." I said exaggeratedly, and then amended. "You really saved my ass."

He broke into that cocky grin that made it somehow easier to talk to him, "What are friends for?"

There he went, slinging around that word again. But I suppose if there was list of factors qualifying friendship, saving one's life was probably on it. Still murder was probably on the precluding list… "I thought after what happened last time…"

"If I cut ties every time someone tried to kill me… I wouldn't have any friends." He smiled. I see why he and Alaric were so close. "Speaking of which… who was the vampire you half decapitated in my basement?"

"Bernie…" I murmured. Damon cocked a brow as if he had heard me wrong.

"Seriously?"

I shrugged. "He said he'd been sent by someone, to try to fool me into thinking you were killing people in town." I shuddered and looked away at the memory of the knife, and of the bite.

"Bastard…" Damon hissed under his breath, and I turned to regard him with interest.

"You know something."

He nodded. "It's a long story… and you've had a long night."

"Damon..." I started, ready to interrogate him over the mystery.

"Liz... I'm not going anywhere." He suddenly seemed more tired than I was, running both hands through his hair in a nervous gesture. I had just almost died and wanted to know what the hell was going on. "We'll talk about it. Soon. I promise."

I would have confronted him for evading my question, but I really had had a long night.

"Liz?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"You were tortured."

"Yeah." What did he want from me? Why did he care?

He waited a moment for me to elaborate I suppose, but I held fast to my monosyllabic response and he finally sighed heavily. "Ooo-kay."

"I'm a cop, Damon. And I've never been well known for talking about… _feelings_." I spat it out like a bad word.

"I'm not usually a fan either. So more scotch?"

I lifted up the glass. "Please."

* * *

**AN: **Okay, hope you enjoyed, please remember to review!


	16. Chapter 16

Caroline drove me home... I think. By the time she got there I had imbibed enough scotch to kill an elephant. I may have even giggled a bit as I saw the look on her face when she had rushed into the living room to find me stretched out on the couch, drunk and in nothing but Damon's shirt. She exchanged words with Damon but I remembered none of it the next day, only the vague recollection of hobbling to the car. No sooner than the door slamming shut echoed in my ears, she launched into a tirade.

"What the Hell were you thinking?!" She demanded. "That was stupid. And reckless. And we already have Elena for that!"

I winced, woozy and nauseous at the level of noise. "I thought I was going to kill Damon. You said he was innocent so by your logic, I should have had nothing to worry about." I slurred out sleepily.

Caroline sputtered. "You still don't go vampire hunting all by yourself. You aren't Buffy! And it wasn't Damon! And you still ended up almost dead!"

"But I'm alive. And Bernie's dead." I pointed out as if it was all the justification I needed.

"Who the fuck is Bernie?" Caroline hissed.

"Watch your language dear." I admonished her, half asleep.

Caroline opened her mouth to yell at me again, but instead broke into tears. The sight of her crying sobered me instantly. Sobs wracked her body and she had to pull the car over lest she lose control. "You were going to throw your life away. You didn't care. You were going to leave me alone!" She said brokenly. "You can't do that to me. I've already... You can't throw yourself away like that."

My pulse was swimming in my ears, and the world seemed to shift beneath me as the car stopped, but the high was gone and I was forced to confront the motives behind my decision to hunt Damon. I had felt angry, betrayed, and powerless. I had gone out there to put a stop to him, kill him and any lingering emotions I felt for him- or die trying. I had been thinking about Caroline when I did it too, but not in a way I would admit. I had thought that if I died, then I wouldn't have to remember that she was a vampire. That I wouldn't have to deal with my failure. It wasn't until the last minute, perhaps Bernard's flensing knife had cut some sense into me. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

She crawled across the center console, her arms clinging to me like a lifeline, her head cradled in my lap. I felt my heart stir with overwhelming guilt as her hot tears soaked through Damon's black shirt, still draped about my form. "Please... mom. Please don't try something like that again."

I closed my eyes and felt wetness run down my cheeks. "I won't. I promise."

* * *

I woke up to the worst hangover in my entire life. Unfortunately there was also shouting. "What the..?" I grumbled as the sound of angry voices reached my ears. I pushed myself to my feet and wearily checked my balance on the bedpost before stumbling down the stairs to the scene that awaited me in my kitchen.

"Stay back!" A male voice barked, tinged with fear and I groaned, realizing it was Kurt.

"Um, hello? Are you stupid? You're the one who insisted on breaking into my house!" Caroline's voice bit back.

Crap. It sounded like Kurt had somehow discovered Caroline's secret identity and was currently confronting her. I heard gunshots and the sound of shattering glass and my heart picked up fearful that they'd hurt each other. I decided enough was enough.

"What are you two doing?" I said, stomping angrily into the kitchen. Both sets of eyes snapped on me. Kurt was standing with his legs apart, gun leveled at my daughter's chest. Caroline was crouching defensively behind the kitchen island, eyes red and fangs out.

"Liz! It's a vampire, be careful!" He said, darting a look quickly towards my daughter, who gazed back with contempt.

"IT?! It?! Who the hell do you think you are?" Caroline asked in outrage, standing up straight to glare at him.

I dipped my forehead to the outstretched fingers of my hand, feeling my headache intensify. "Kurt... put down the gun. I know what she is."

Kurt looked at me incredulously. "It... it compelled you." He said in disbelief.

"Kurt, if you recall, we shared a vervain milkshake _yesterday._ She's not going to hurt you."

"She already tried to bite me!" At least he wasn't calling her an 'it' anymore.

"Oh please! Like I'd eat you. When was the last time you showered? You smell awful!"

Kurt looked at her incensed. "I showered this morning!" He shot back defensively.

"Before or after you rolled around in horse manure?" She growled.

"Quiet! Both of you." I swayed and slumped to my knees as a wave of nausea spread over me.

"Liz? Are you okay?" Kurt asked, suddenly focused on me.

"Mom? Maybe you should lay down." Caroline said, taking a step forward.

Kurt looked between me and Caroline, his brow furrowed and mouthing the word 'mom?' in confusion. I sighed heavily. "Caroline, this is my new deputy, Kurt. Kurt... this is Caroline, my daughter."

Caroline looked over, as if sizing up Kurt before proclaiming coldly. "I thought I told you to find a good one."

Kurt looked between us again and then lowered his gun slowly. "What the hell is this, Liz?" He asked angrily. I couldn't blame him, I had reacted much the same way to any vampires I had encountered... and after being tortured and nearly killed the night before, I felt that the feeling was generally justified. He was taking a huge risk not having his gun trained on something that could move impossibly fast and kill him in the blink of an eye. I realized that he was trusting me... and was glad he was at least beginning to listen. "You better have a damn good explanation."

"Yeah... sure, but first I need to..." I heaved and Caroline was suddenly hauling me to the bathroom with her supernatural strength and speed and slinging me over the toilet. God was I glad I'd cleaned it recently...

Kurt caught up with us and stood awkwardly in the doorway to see the curious sight of Caroline standing over me with a wrinkled nose, pulling my hair from my eyes as I vomited. I hadn't really eaten much the night before, so it was mostly stomach acid.

When the episode had passed, I slumped to the floor, flashing back to my college days when mornings like this were the norm... well, minus the gunshots and vampires.

"What's wrong with you? Are you... are you hung over?" He asked incredulously.

"Incredibly." I replied. "Do we have to do this now?"

"Liz I thought you were dead! First we get attacked and then you ran off and this morning you didn't show up to work... I came here to check on you and a vampire opens the door..."

I held up a hand to stop him and mumbled "I take that as a yes."

I looked up at Caroline who in turn was staring at Kurt with a strange expression, like he was a puzzle she was just beginning to understand. "Caroline... how did Kurt find out you were a vampire?" I asked in my best this-better-be-good-young-lady-or-you're-grounded voice.

Caroline looked at me sheepishly. "He wouldn't leave and kept shouting and pounding on the door... After last night, I thought anyone that wanted to get into the house so bad can't be anyone good... so I kind of tried to compel him... just so he would go away." she added quickly at the end.

Kurt snorted "You told me to go to the woods and copulate with a porcupine!"

I groaned and arched my head back until it thudded with the bathroom wall. "Caroline..."

"What? He was pissing me off! Then he pulled a gun on me and barged into the house..." Caroline gestured to a bloody stain on her blouse that I realized was a bullet hole. "You owe me, mister. Do you know how much this shirt cost?"

I turned angrily to Kurt now. "You shot her?!"

"Vampire!" He pointed with his hand still clenching the gun at Caroline who snarled. "In case you forgot, we're supposed to hunt them."

I sighed heavily, and realized that I'd have to stop the bickering before the shooting started again. "Caroline... can you give us a minute?"

"Mom, I'm not leaving you alone with the gun-toting maniac."

"It's okay, I'll be fine." I assured her. "Just wait upstairs for a minute?"

Caroline huffed. "Fine." then turned to Kurt. "If you touch a hair on my mom, I'm so going to eat you, horse manure or not."

Caroline sped past him in a blatant display of her powers. Kurt flinched back but she was already gone. "Sorry... teenagers..." I mumbled as if it explained everything. "Can you please put the gun away now?"

Kurt looked down at the gun, still clenched in a white grip in his hands and nodded, shoving it in his jacket holster.

I struggled to my feet, but Kurt did not step forward to help. Maybe he was that angry at me, or maybe he didn't want to test Caroline's interpretation of what touching a hair on her mother was. "You know, I hired you to keep this town safe from vampires and I meant it."

"Funny way of showing it."

"Caroline's a special case. Not just because she's my daughter. Go look in the fridge."

Kurt gave me an odd look but did as he was told. I followed him wearily into the kitchen. "The stolen blood. You've had it all along."

I nodded. "She drinks that and she doesn't have to kill people."

He held the refrigerator door open a moment longer before shutting it. "Why would a vampire do that?"

I sank onto one of the bar stools on the kitchen island, surveying the broken window and the bullet holes in the wall. "I don't know. When I found out about her... that she was a vampire, that she had been for months- and I had no idea, I had planned on... on killing her."

"Obviously that changed at some point." He observed and slid down to sit next to me.

"I just couldn't bring myself to do it at first. I knew I had to, I had been raised to believe that they were evil. I made excuses in my head, like wanting to know who turned her, but the more I watched her... she hadn't changed at all. She still acted just like Caroline. I thought it was an act but... then I made a mistake."

He said nothing, only watching me like a hawk, imploring me to continue.

I took a deep breath and launched into the story, confessing it aloud for the first time. "I accidentally shot someone... a kid. A kid I've known all his life. I'd been friends with his parents growing up. And then she was there, trying to save his life. Her friends... took the body and then he was alive again... not a vampire, just alive. Like none of it had ever happened."

"That's... pretty incredible." He allowed, I heard the skepticism in his voice.

I nodded. "I know. It sounds crazy, but it happened. And then she spoke with me, I couldn't deny it anymore. She _was _my daughter... not pretending, not acting. She was just Caroline." Saying it aloud, even after my hesitation around her the past weeks, the doubts that had stirred in my head day after day, I finally realized that I believed wholeheartedly what I was saying.

Kurt's eyes were on the Formica counter before him. "Let's say I believe you, that you haven't been compelled or something... why did your daughter get to keep her humanity, but Alison didn't?"

I had almost forgotten about Kurt's story, of his partner turned vampire that had tried to kill him. Of course he would draw parallels, wonder why. "I don't know."

"She said she loved me... before she died." He whispered. "Did I act too rashly? Could I have saved her?"

I shook my head, "I don't know."

"I don't understand this, Liz... but I'll keep it quiet for now. I just... I need to think." Kurt stood slowly. "This is all too much for me to take in just yet."

"I know. I appreciate it. Thank you... for listening, and for trusting me." I said in relief.

Kurt nodded and then moved towards the door, hesitated and turned. "What happened last night?"

Ah... in all the excitement I had almost forgotten. I gave him the cliff-notes version. "I found the vampire... he attacked me. I killed him."

Kurt sputtered. "By yourself? And then apparently went out to celebrate without me." His eyes lingered on me but they held a note of humor. If he wondered whose shirt I was wearing, he said nothing.

"Yeah, something like that." I muttered.

The corners of Kurt's mouth turned up slightly. "You are a remarkable woman, Liz."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as he made his way to the door.

* * *

After Kurt had left, Caroline helped me back into bed and got me some water. I slept for hours, dreaming about Caroline and Damon. It wasn't a nightmare surprisingly, just our friendship, our relationship which left me feeling warm and comforted. When I finally cracked my eyes open again, the day was already gone and it was just dark outside.

I sat up cautiously, but no nausea or headache greeted me and I sighed in relief. I finally changed out of Damon's shirt and stepped into the bathroom, recalling that I had forgotten to take my medication today, then laughed at the thought of dying from something as mundane as a heart attack. I cleaned myself up, banishing the taste of any lingering bile in my mouth and any flecks of blood I might have missed the night before.

Changed into clean clothes, I went back and checked on my phone. There were seven calls from Kurt from before he arrived this morning... whoops. Two new texts had also arrived while I slept. The first was from Caroline.

_Need anything from the store?_

I found myself laughing again. Maybe I was becoming unhinged, but I thought the mundane question coming from my vampire daughter was truly ironic. I checked the other text, it was from Damon Salvatore.

_Come by the Grill when you stop puking._

_-DS_

I stared for a long time, my laughter forgotten. I recalled Damon promising me answers the night before.

I punched the keys carefully and then considered the message before I pressed send.

_Just woke up, still there?_

I waited in silence a moment and the phone buzzed again.

_Yes, get your ass down here._

I slipped the phone into my pocket and checked myself reflexively in the mirror. I didn't look like I had almost died last night, and that was good enough.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the new favorites and follows- and one review! The story is heading towards its conclusion, probably only a few more chapters. I was a bit hesitant about posting the previous three chapters, as I felt they weren't as refined as the rest of the story... but I felt I had to to get things moving again after a month break. If you liked them or noticed something problematic, let me know so I can get going in the right direction! They will very possibly be revised in the near future (ie, whenever I'm done with school and comfortably employed).**


	17. Chapter 17

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't Damon chowing away on the Mystic Grill's very own Greasy burger: one and a half pounds of ground beef, ten slices of un-drained bacon, all the fixin's, and a side of duck fat fries. He motioned me over to the booth, still chewing and dabbed at his full mouth delicately with a napkin. The look on my face must have prompted him to speak as he began to talk around his food.

"If I finish, the meal's free." He explained as I sat down across from him.

"Why are you even eating?" I asked instead. "I mean... I know you can, Caroline told me... but why bother?"

"Think of it this way, imagine your favorite, tastiest, drink... now imagine having nothing but that for the rest of your life. Of course everyone tastes a little bit different but..." He trailed off, gauging my reaction. "Besides, the bartender bet me a bottle of Glenmorangie that a skinny thing like me couldn't polish off one of these puppies... and somebody drank all of my whiskey last night." He added with a mock glare.

I blushed and mumbled an apology that he waved off, sliding the menu over to me. "Orfer somefing" He said, crumbs dripping down the front of his black shirt and I couldn't help but quirk a smile. There was something decidedly unthreatening about the vampire trying to talk with his mouth full.

"So what happens if you don't finish?" I asked sipping at the glass of water.

"I'll finish it." He said confidently.

"But what happens if you don't?" I pressed, now curious.

Damon gave me a sour look, his eyes drifting to the bar. "I have to make out with the bartender."

I choked on my water and the glanced over at the bar. Sure enough the bartender- the male bartender, a slightly overweight redhead with matching beard was watching us and gave Damon a wink before pursing his lips in a mock kiss. "If that's your type." I muttered.

"I'm going to finish it." He reiterated.

Matt Donovan came over to take my order, looking between me and Damon. "Is everything alright?" he asked significantly.

I gave him a reassuring nod. "I'll have the fish and chips."

Matt nodded and left. Damon scoffed. "He still doesn't like me."

"I can't imagine why not." I said, giving Damon a sour look. "So what did you do with... you know, Bernie?"

Damon looked annoyed, gesturing to his food. "I'm trying to eat here."

"I wouldn't think someone who lives on death wouldn't be so squeamish talking about a body." I pointed out, taking some pleasure in managing to discomfort him.

"And just because you like to eat cow, does that mean you want to eat it at the slaughterhouse? It's taken care of."

"What about last night? You promised me answers."

"And you'll get them," He said as if explaining something to a particularly obstinate child. "but not here... not exactly the right venue for discussing murder and mayhem." He said with a smile.

My fish and chips arrived but I found my appetite lacking. Damon struggled but eventually finished the burger, only having one moment of weakness where he tried to slip me a couple of fries under the table. The bartender was scowling as the empty plate was presented to him, but wrapped up the scotch for Damon who smiled smugly back.

"This is coming out of my paycheck." the bartender growled. "Just one kiss for pity's sake?"

Damon leaned in and the bartender closed his eyes in anticipation. "I don't think so." He said sweetly, swiping the scotch and walking out.

We walked out the door into the night side by side, which felt familiar and strange at the same time. How many times had I walked with Damon like this while we decided on plans to kill vampires and cover up the latest attacks? Had he been laughing at me the whole time?

I followed his lead, the cool night air awakening nostalgia of years of walking these streets, having lived here all my life. The town square, busy with activity gave way to suburban style housing with the occasional couple or evening jogger which gave way to the beginnings of a rural street. I usually didn't walk around at night unless I was with a small army of officers since the attacks had started, so it felt strange that only he was beside me. He seemed to be making a beeline for the woods, a place none of us ever dared to tread after dark, not since I was a child and my parents had beaten me within an inch of my life for endangering myself. My steps slowed, showing my hesitance to continue to God knows where.

"Where are we going?" I asked finally, stopping several paces behind him. He turned, smiling wryly and I wondered what had possessed me to follow him out this far in the first place.

"You're not afraid of the dark are you?" He asked chidingly.

"I'm afraid of the things that live in the dark." I replied back automatically. He laughed lightly, at the irony I suppose. It wasn't Bernie's spine-unhinging laugh, but did nothing to comfort me.

"It's not much farther. Just a spot I like to go when I'm thinking. Then we can talk."

Baited by the promise of information, my legs moved again.

We did not enter the woods as I had thought we would, but walked along them until we came to a meadow I hadn't known existed. A lone picnic table sat at its center, illuminated in nothing but moonlight. The dried grass crunched beneath my feet as we went and the woods had gone eerily quiet much as they had before I was attacked the night before. Perhaps the creatures of the forest could sense when a predator was nearby. I squinted my eyes and could barely see the nearest house in the distance, a light in the dark, but it was far off, almost to the horizon.

We sat at the table and Damon took a deep breath, and I caught his hesitation. "I don't know where to begin." He finally confessed after a long moment. "I never imagined... I never thought I would be talking to you openly about this."

It was strange for me too. "The attacks... The ones before you left. You knew something about them." I prompted, police interrogator mode kicking in.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah..." He swallowed. "Yeah, that was Stefan."

"Your brother." I inhaled sharply. "Caroline told me that he feeds on animals? My deputies- we've found dead animals all over the place since you guys moved here."

Damon let out a sigh. "He fell off the band wagon... Not all of us are blessed with self-control. If he has human blood... He can't help himself. Like an addict, he can't stop. He doesn't just feed- he tears his victims apart."

I shuddered at the memory of the dismembered bodies we'd found. "Where is he now?"

He shook his head. "Follow the trail of horrific bodies. I doubt he stopped when he left here." He sighed. "I was hoping that you could help me with that, actually. You have access to channels that I don't."

I was quiet, looking at him considering. "What happens when you find him?"

Damon's hands, upon the picnic table began to slide against the old wood unconsciously picking at imperfections in its surface. He looked... nervous. "He's in this mess because of me. He had to do it to save my life. I'm going to get him back on the wagon, and bring him home."

"And what if he won't let that happen?"

Damon looked me right in the eye. "Then I'm going to kill him."

Silence spread between us at his declaration and finally I nodded. "Alright, alright I'll help you." I had no desire to deal with this particularly bloody vampire, but even I had to admit that I owed Damon this. And if Stefan couldn't be helped, I only hoped that Damon would go through with what he had just promised to do.

Damon's hand reached out for my shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Thank you." He said with sincerity. I nodded tightly and his arm dropped back to the table.

"I had a question." I stated. Damon inclined his head and I struggled to find the words to continue. "You said that… that your blood heals."

"You're here aren't you?" He asked dryly.

My eyes narrowed impatiently and I continued. "But if I died right now, I'd become a vampire."

He looked at me as if considering my words and in a rush I realized that he'd taken it the wrong way.

"Not that I want to." I scrambled to say. "But I was remembering when Caroline was in the hospital."

Damon's eyes darkened in understanding.

"The doctors all said it was hopeless, but you seemed so sure that she was going to be okay."

"I didn't kill your daughter, Liz." He said lowly, defensive with a hint of anger. I sighed in exasperation, realizing I'd failed at communication again.

"I know you didn't, you dolt. She told me who it was, but... it was your blood, right? Everyone said it was a miracle."

Damon looked confused as if he was unsure if he should be offended, but nodded once, cautiously watching me. "Yeah. It was."

My heart clenched with an unfamiliar emotion, something like tenderness and pain, warmth and understanding. Whether or not he'd saved me, he'd saved her. Had Katherine planned to turn my daughter? Or had she just killed her out of spite? If he hadn't intervened, would Caroline, vampire though she may be have been lost to me forever? "Thank you." I whispered finally.

He looked uncomfortable, as if being on the receiving end of gratitude was a foreign concept. He cleared his throat and spoke softly "You're welcome."

Uncomfortable silence followed and my gaze drifted to my hands where they were folded in my lap. I wanted to ask him more, but his last confession weighed heavily on me.

"I want to give you something." He said, breaking the quiet and leaning forward. I looked up to meet his eyes, curious. "It wasn't something I could give you at the Grill. You lost a lot of blood last night. That coupled with my blood healing you, the vervain should be purged from your system."

I went cold at the simple statement. I had taken the last of our supply that night in preparation for facing Damon, and had thus not had my usual vervain tea, milkshake, or juice mixture. He must have seen me tense.

"Don't look at me like that." He said sitting back again, crossing his arms and looking downright offended. I felt somewhat ashamed at my knee-jerk reaction, especially after what I'd just learned and after he'd saved me, but he was still a killer and old habits died hard… besides, what good could come from my lack of vervain? He sighed heavily. "I was going to offer you back your memories."

_Oh…_ I knew what he meant. The missing three days when I'd attacked and tortured him and his brother. When I had slept in the basement where I was later tortured by Bernie. I shivered, unsure. "What if I don't like what I see?"

Damon reached out, touching me for the second time that night, grasping at my arm until I yielded and he took my hands in his. They were warm in the cool air and the texture of the pads of his hands made me shiver as he drew his thumb idly over mine. "You and Caroline talked. A lot. She was upset when she compelled you, but she did it to protect us. I think whatever was said is worth remembering."

I considered it a moment longer and then nodded. I realized how alone I'd felt after I'd lost the Damon I'd thought I'd known. I decided to take a leap of faith. "Alright. How do we do this?" I asked nervously. Damon gave my hands a reassuring squeeze.

"Just look me in the eye."

* * *

**AN: Next chapter is already written, and will delve into the lost memories. I don't know if reverse compulsion is canon, but it stands to reason that the latent memories that surface when one is changed into a vampire are still there for the human as well. Please send me your loving reviews ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

_Damon tossed me roughly into his car. Stefan and Elena had disappeared so he could hunt and Caroline was heading home to pack me a suitcase._

_Caroline was a vampire. I was so in denial in spite of seeing her just kill someone, blood covering her face. The pain of having lost her, having discovered it in such an awful way- it was unbearable. I felt like I was sinking to the depths of the ocean where I couldn't see, couldn't breathe. I had failed her and she was dead._

_The vampire got into the driver's seat. Part of me still wished that he'd killed me, but for whatever reason he'd decided to keep me around. I did not believe his declaration of our friendship for a minute. _

_I was grieving, in shock and denial as silent tears rolled down my cheeks. I was not expecting Damon to take my hand, looking at me imploringly but I refused to meet his gaze and wrenched my hand from his grasp. _

_"Don't worry. In three days, this'll all be a bad dream." His jaw clenched out of the corner of my eye as he turned his attention back to the road._

_"Where are we going?" I asked, finding my voice, anxiety overwhelming the anger and bitter sadness._

_"My place. You'll stay there until I can compel you again. Three days." He reiterated. _

* * *

_He didn't try to touch me again and I did not bother to try and escape. I knew that such an effort would prove fruitless and probably get me killed. We pulled up in front of his house, a place I've been many times before, but now seemed foreign and strange. He let me walk behind him, a small mercy as I don't think I could have handled having him at my back. I followed mutely, legs heavy as lead. He turned to wait for me at the base of the stairs and I found my feet dragging._

_We walked through the basement and I saw the vervain plants, the source of our vervain growing happily under a UV light. Turning, I realized with a start that there was a very sturdy looking wooden door with bars across it in the room. _

_"Your phone, Liz." He said, turning around. I begrudgingly slid it out of my pocket and held it out to him. He glanced at it, hitting a few buttons before handing it back to me. "Call the precinct." He said, surprising me. "Tell them that you'll be out for a few days, that you're feeling a bit under the weather."_

_My mind was already racing with the possibility of rescue, but he seemed to read my thoughts._

_"If you tell them, I won't kill you. But I will kill every deputy that shows up at this house and I will make you watch." He said casually. I shuddered. So he was showing his true colors after all. Good, vampires were monsters. Even if he was sparing my life, he was doing it for his own reasons. It was easier that way. I did as he asked._

* * *

_I couldn't sleep the first night. I couldn't stop thinking about Caroline and Damon and how stupid I'd been not to see it sooner, to let that monster near me and my family. Had Damon turned Caroline? It made sense, and I settled firmly into hating him. I had tested the strength of the door, but it did not budge. _

_I stared determinedly at the wall when Caroline walked in, with a tray of semi-burnt food. I cursed internally. It was the only thing I'd asked of him, that he keep her away. Why was she here, tormenting me? She spoke but I pointedly ignored her. It hurt so much to see that monster wearing my daughter's face and I knew if I said anything, I would break down. _

_I did not touch the food, glancing down at the charred edges of the breaded chicken, I held back a sob as I recalled Caroline's inability to cook. It hadn't changed when she turned, and I dared to think for a weak moment that maybe part of her was still alive in there. I quashed the traitorous thought just as quickly. I would starve myself if I had to rather than do anything to acknowledge this monster's existence._

* * *

_I was left alone with my thoughts for much of the day. It was Hell, plain and simple. That night I wept as quietly as I could, but he still heard me, and he still showed up. "You know, you're keeping the supernatural side of this house up."_

_"I'm so sorry to inconvenience you." I bit out sarcastically through my tears. Vampires needed sleep, huh?_

_Damon sighed heavily. "I know this isn't easy for you. I'd want nothing more than to set you free, but seeing as you'd probably rally the village people with torches and pitchforks- well you see my dilemma?"_

_"Look… I'll try to keep it down. Please, just go away." I said heavily, my voice cracking. _

_He did and I felt a strange twinge of regret as I was once again left only with my thoughts._

* * *

_Caroline came again the next morning. I'd cried myself to sleep from exhaustion. Once again I ignored her. She had been polite, acting sweet and so much unlike how Caroline normally was with me. I could believe it wasn't her. But then her frustration shone through. _

_"Right, I forgot- you don't care." She said flippantly as I refused to acknowledge her. Suddenly she was Caroline, talking bitterly like she had many times, hating me for the divorce, tearing me apart inside with my inability to just reach her. "Just like before I was a vampire- It's not like I died or anything." Had she really thought I didn't care? Did she not understand that I had to do what I did to keep the town safe from things like her? That being a single parent was difficult enough without vampires in the mix? That I couldn't always be there no matter how much I wanted to? She was almost out of the cell when my voice finally betrayed me._

_"Are you…? Are really you dead?" She glanced back, and studied the tears in my eyes. I saw her face soften._

_"Yes and no…" She moved towards me, setting the tray back down. _

_I sat watching her… she was seated on the edge of the bed. I had shuffled over to the head and leaned against the cool cement wall with my legs crossed. She began explaining to me how she woke up a vampire after the accident, how she found a blood bag there and completed the transformation before she even understood what was happening. _

_"It's not all superpowers and stuff though. People who used to be my friends are afraid of me or don't trust me. I see them and I mean, it's not like I can just come out and say 'I'm not going to eat you so chill out' or something. I mean, I've known Bonnie since second grade and she's got her own crazy witchy powers, but vampires? She can't stand to be around me. Then there's Elena, she's dating one for God sakes but still looks at me when she thinks I won't notice like I'm going to snap or something." _

_Caroline vented and huffed. She then seemed to realize who she was talking to._

_"I'm sorry. I… you probably don't want to hear about this stuff." She looked hesitant, hurt, like I would reject her like her friends had. Caroline had always had trouble with people- in spite of being popular at school, her abrasive attitude made her difficult to get along with. I had noticed the change in her in the past year- she was getting better, growing up I thought. Now she never would. _

_"Well… I suppose I've got nothing else to do." I said softly and she looked at me in surprise, warmth coming to her eyes. _

_She spoke slowly, simply, explaining her bloodlust and how she controlled it by feeding from stolen whole blood from the local hospital. Admitting that she still felt the instinct to kill, that she fought it every day. I shuddered. Caroline had always been about control, controlling herself and others and I wanted it to be true, I hoped it was. _

_"I never wanted this for you…" I said softly. I didn't know if I was talking to the vampire in front of me or an effigy of my daughter's lost soul, but I needed to say it._

_"I know, but when life gives you lemons…" I held back a light laugh mixed with a sob at my recollection of the little saying I used to tell her as a child. _

_She glanced upwards before proclaiming, "Damon's home."_

_I heard nothing, but was reminded again that she was no longer human. I swallowed down the pain and tried to focus on her. "Is he really going to let me go?"_

_Caroline nodded. "If he didn't kill you in the cave, I don't see why he'd keep you here for later. I never noticed it before, but I think he does think of you as a friend- in his own crazy Damon way." She reassured me and then laughed a little. "He was trying to pull my head out of my a- butt, tell me to give you a chance."_

_A vampire, trying to help me with my relationship with my daughter?_

_Caroline excused herself, saying she was needed upstairs. I felt a sort of calm wash over me. This vampire was still my daughter, I had to believe that and I clung to that belief like a lifeline. Her face, her mannerisms, and my own motherly instinct told me that she was my daughter. If this was a cruel trick, I wouldn't survive it._

_It was hours later when she came back to told me a story of how she'd saved the day, I listened in disbelief. How had my Caroline, who was always more concerned with boys and makeup do something so heroic, so strong? Had I always been holding her back from her full potential by assuming the worst of her?_

_I felt a swelling in my chest- pride and love for my daughter. I felt closer to her than I had in years. _

_So when my tearful promise to keep her secret came, I meant it. I believed in her, but she knew that I still didn't believe in the others when I asked her to lie to them. _

_She was crying as she compelled me. I watched the scene like a bystander as I nodded while she wept, a blank look upon my face as I mindlessly repeated everything she said. Then she collapsed in my lap, I didn't react, still dazed as her arms wrapped around me and she begged for forgiveness._

* * *

I gasped as I came out of the memory. I was on my hands and knees staring at the ground. There was dirt and grass beneath my fingernails and I saw my own claw marks in the soft earth. At some point during the flashback, I had gotten up and stumbled, but I didn't remember it. Damon still sat on the other side of the table, watching me coolly as I pulled myself back together.

"Sorry, Liz… making people forget is easier. Returned memories can get kind of intense." He said softly. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, tears leaking from my eyes. The pain I felt was almost physical, but it stemmed entirely from the rush of lost emotions now returned to me. My mind seemed to protest as my false memory of being sick faded away and the true experience slipped into place. I clenched at my heart and sat back on my knees. I realized that in the days to follow my supposed illness, I had felt things that went with the missing memories- a sadness when I looked at Caroline. Like I had lost something. An irrational anger towards Damon, and I hadn't known why. "It hurts." I gasped.

"I know. It'll pass. Do you regret it?" He asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

I thought about the last feeling in the memory… the love I had for my daughter, the trust and the pride. I shook my head. "No… no, I'm glad to have it back."

* * *

**AN: Thanks to those who are keeping up with the story, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who like their relationship. Please review :)**


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